A Different Fate
by awsum08
Summary: Naruto falls to Neji during the chuunin exams. How will this one battle between two genin change the fate of Konoha?
1. A Broken Promise

Summary: Naruto falls to Neji during the chuunin exams. How will this one battle between two genin change the fate of Konoha?

Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto. If I did, Naruto would know more wind jutsu, goddammit .

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**A Broken Promise**

Naruto stood, albeit barely, panting and trying to catch his breath. _"What's going on? I can't feel ANY chakra at all. It's like I don't even have a freaking chakra system! Dammit!" _All he felt was numbing pain all over. And it had all happened so fast, it didn't even make sense. It was painful to remain standing. It was all Naruto could do to stand and glare at the boy who stood before him, without so much as a smudge of dirt on him.

Neji.

"Eight Trigrams Sixty-Four Palms. Surprised? You should be. And you're not the only one"

Up in the stands, one Hyuga Hiashi stared, bewildered at the branch house member, though his face showed none of it.

"That is a technique taught only to the members of the high and mighty main house of the Hyuga main branch. My strikes have closed your tenketsu, the points through which chakra flows through out your chakra system. From the pitiful look on your face, I can tell that you're wondering why you can't access any of your chakra. My eyes can see all. And you can't hide the truth from me." Neji spoke down to the blonde genin in front of him. His eyes seeing the truth in Naruto's body that he himself couldn't see. And the confused look on the blondes face ended up causing Neji to smirk ever so slightly.

"Face it. You're a failure. You can't beat me. Your fate was decided the moment you were born…and it was finalized when you stepped in this arena against me."

_"Dammit all to hell! I have to beat this guy. I HAVE to. I…I promised. I promised Hinata that I would. And bushy-brows. I'm doing this for him too." _Naruto painfully raised his arms to try and force chakra through his body. _"If only I could open those gates like bushy-brows. Maybe then I could force my tenketsu open. But would that even work? Gah! What does it matter?! I don't know how to!"_

"That's not going to work, fool. You may think your chakra is still there, but it's not. It's. Gone! I've heard that you're stupid so I'm making this as simple as possible. You. Have. No. Chakra!" Neji mocked with just the slightest bit of humorous contempt leaking out of his veiled voice.

"SHUT UP! YOU DON'T KNOW WHAT I CAN DO, SO DON'T LOOK DOWN ON ME!" The loud genin screamed. But he knew just as well as Neji did that it was all a bluff at this point. "I promised. I made a promise to beat you. And I WILL find a way to do it. I don't give a damn if you shut off my chakra. So long as I have use in even one arm, I will use that arm to punch your lights out" Naruto pointed at Neji as he spoke, but in truth, he was just buying time and trying to think up a strategy that would actually work

Neji's face turned into a slight scowl at the words of the stubborn boy before him "You're still resisting. I'll be the first to admit that it was admirable at first, but you're starting to annoy me. You keep this up and you're going to get hurt…well…more hurt." Neji threatened with no sense of playing around in his voice.

Naruto couldn't help but smirk at Neji. "Tch. You know, for a genius, you're pretty dumb. And if your lack of info on me is anything to go by as your skills as a ninja, then I have to say, you downright SUCK at getting good intel. How the hell did you even get past the first exam?"

As if there weren't enough veins throbbing on his face already. Neji's eyes seemed to intensify as the fool in front of him continued to splutter out nonsense that was getting to be insulting. That last rant caused just the smallest bit of killing intent to roll off Neji.

This didn't go unnoticed by Naruto. Nor Genma. _"Ok. This could get ugly fast" _The jonin thought to himself as he shifted his stance the tiniest bit, all focus on Neji now.

"Oh scary." Naruto continued to mock the genius. But much to everyone's surprise, the light vanished in his eyes. His eyes became steel. "You. You talk of fate and suffering and geniuses and failures. That's your life. Did you know that other people have lives too? Ever think of that? Other people's lives are not fate, suffering, genius and failure. We have other things. Me? I'll admit mine has had suffering. Still does. And it probably won't change anytime soon."

The Sandaime Hokage, looking on from the Kage's box, felt as though this one tiny genins words were more painful than a blade to his heart. He knew the truth. All of it. _"I'm sorry, Minato"_

"I don't know about your suffering and I don't know how much or in what way you've suffered but I actually don't wanna know either. But I have something else in my life. I have a dream. My dream is to be Hokage, so that I can live a life free of suffering and one where the people actually like me. And if fate decides that I can't be Hokage, then I'll fight back. I'll be the one who defies fate. I'll be the one who defeats fate. And I'll be the one who defeats yo-"

"ENOUGH!" Neji roared. "You know nothing of fate. NOTHING! I have listened to your trash for long enough." Neji wasn't even bothering to try and hide his killer intent now. It was rolling off him in surges. "Fate is absolute. Fate is God's will. To defy fate is to defy God Himself. You are nothing but a lowly human. Your hubris is sickening. Your fate is failure. Your fate is defeat. And it will be at MY HANDS!"

Neji pushed off the ground with blinding speed. A stunned Naruto could only stare in surprise at the calm boy's sudden outburst. The last sight he could remember was Neji's furious byakugan staring through his soul and the impact of a palm against his forehead.

The arena was quiet for the whole time Naruto's body stood stock still until the sound of him crumpling to the floor was heard.

Genma walked over to Naruto's unconscious body and checked his vitals. He shot a small glare at Neji, who had regained his composure and showed no emotion. Especially remorse.

Genma stood, and walked slowly towards Neji. He stared Neji full in the eyes and said, loud enough for the whole stadium to hear.

"Winner. Hyuga Neji!"

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A/N: Kinda short for an intro I guess. Could be because I started at the end of the Neji fight. Oh well. Hopefully I can make the next chapters longer. I have a rough outline for the first couple of chapters already, but I will only start to write them if I get positive feedback. So, take the time and leave a review please. It would help a lot. Thanks


	2. Discoveries

A/N: This is more of a transitional chapter. So don't expect any action scenes here.

For those of you who are curious about my updating habits, I have some info:

1. I TRY to write everyday. Emphasis on TRY. Please remember that this is LITERALLY the first time I am writing a story like this.

2. I am a student currently going through my exams which will end on June 20th. Expect updates to be irregular until I get more time and more into the flow of being a writer.

3. Every new chapter is new to me. Whether it's a fight scene, or a transition, or a fluff scene, it's all a new experiment to me. Don't expect perfection because I have absolutely NO experience.

4. I will get what is referred to as writer's block. Especially in the earlier chapters. I promise to try to get better with experience.

If you keep all that I've said in mind, I would sincerely appreciate it. ^^,

Disclaimer: If I owned Naruto, I wouldn't be posting on a fanfic site, now would I? ._.

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**Discoveries**

"_Wha…what's going on?...Where am I?"_

Hinata wanted to open her eyes to try and make heads or tails of what was going on and where she was. She took a peek under her lashes and immediately shut her eyes because of the uncomfortable bright light above her head. So she decided to lay there and listen for a minute or two.

She could hear the steady whirring of the ceiling fan above her head. The light tube had an almost inaudible buzz coming from it. But when you're a ninja, these things don't escape you. She felt the soft bed under her body. It was warm. Almost uncomfortably so. _"I must have been here a while…what happened?"_ She pondered to herself as smells of various sterilizing fluids, and medicines and herbs filled her nose.

"_I'm at the hospital…why am I at the hospital?"_

She took a deep breath and tried once more to slowly open her eyes. She blinked a couple of times before her eyes adjusted to the change. She wiggled her feet and toes, followed by a quick shrug of the shoulders. She turned her head side to side and flexed her hand. And immediately regretted it. She had jostled a needle. There was a needle stuck to the back of her hand. And something was dripping into it. She felt drowsy. But still. Nothing seemed to be broken. So why was she here?

She tried to think back to what happened. To try and remember the last thing she saw. She remembered the sound of the stadium. The droning background noise. Kiba-kun sitting next to her saying Naruto was gonna kick Neji-niisans…posterior. She had blushed at the comment but she had nodded her head in agreement. _"Naruto-kun was going to win."_ As she thought of this, she blushed once again at the memory of the orange-clad ninja. Yes. That's where she was. She was at the stadium. Watching Naruto-kun fight against Neji-niisan.

"_I didn't get to see how it ended. I wonder who won…I hope Naruto-kun won. But…Neji-niisan…what if Naruto-kun hurt him? What if Neji-niisan hurt Naruto-kun…? I don't want either of them to be hurt. Naruto-kun wouldn't do that, right…? Would he…? No. He wouldn't. But…he must've fought…and that means they both got hurt…right? But who won…? Neji-niisan is strong. Very strong…but Naruto-kun…he promised…he promised to win…that means…he won right? Naruto-kun never goes back on his word. Yes. He definitely beat Neji-niisan. Maybe now Neji-niisan will open up to the world a little more. Thanks to Naruto-kun. Naruto-kun does that…he…changes people. It's just something he can do…Naruto-kun…"_

As she thought back to the fight, she remembered more. More about how she ended up in the hospital. Her chest had hurt. Sharply. And she couldn't breathe properly. She had gasped and coughed and passed out. Her hand moved unconsciously towards her heart and clutched at her jacket over it. She felt a deep pang of regret as she had missed Naruto-kun winning the fight. She could just imagine his huge grin. Her lips curved into a smile of her own as she remembered his big grin. It would brighten up any rainy day a thousand times better than a thousand suns. She blushed as she remembered him, and drew upon her fondest memory of him.

"I like people like you" he had said…to her!

Her face turned a new shade of red as she lingered on that memory. And it got even worse when her overactive imagination took over. Naruto-kun won the fight. And Hinata would've bet her byakugan that the first thing he would've done would've been to stare at her from the middle of the arena and scream at the top of his voice "THAT WAS FOR YOU, HINATAAAA!" At that point, she was sure she would've fainted if she was in the stands. But for now, all that happened was her furious flush spread all the way to her ears, just for thinking of it. But she couldn't help but smile at the thought. It just seemed so much like exactly what Naruto-kun would do. He would…do something…for her…

That was the last coherent thought she had before she passed out again from a mix of too much blood in her head, and the sedative dripping from the IV she forgot she was hooked up to, because she was lost in thought about a blonde genin…

-Konoha Stadium-

As the applause for the lazy genius rookie of Konoha and the fan wielding kunoichi from Suna died down, a new noise took over. It was a buzz. And it was getting louder. Louder and louder until the stadium sounded like a giant wasps nest. They all knew what was next.

The final match.

"May I have your attention please." Genma spoke to the restless crowd, using chakra to enhance his voice so he could be heard over the din. As he waited, the crowd quieted down a bit and the noise dropped to bearable level.

"Thank you. Alright. The final match of the third round of the chuunin exams will begin. Step onto the field, Sabaku no Gaara from Sunagakure." Genma called out. The instant Gaara moved, all eyes locked on him, and the stadium went deadly silent.

Gaara walked slowly to the edge of the stands, impassive as ever. He stopped at the edge and everyone watched as he manipulated the sand to form a cloud beneath his feet. He floated up and seemed to glide down to the earth as he descended from the stands. Were it not for the fact that he was still a kid, one might think an ethereal being was descending from the sky. Though it wasn't as flashy, and the fact that Gaara had no angelic intentions somewhat threw the effect off.

Gaara stopped. He stared hard at the jonin and rasped. "Where is he?"

Genma kept a wary eye on him as he asked himself the same question in his head. _"Goddamn you, Kakashi!"_

-Konoha Hospital-

"Mmm…where am i?" Hinata whispered to herself. She blinked her eyes open and remembered that she was in the hospital. She sighed and took a deep breath to steady herself. _"Stupid sedatives"_ she thought to herself rather grumpily for the unusually calm heiress. Still, she resigned to her fate with a heavy sigh and closed her eyes again. She took another breath and she froze.

Something smelled different. It wasn't there the last time she was awake. There was a different smell in the room…but it smelled so…familiar…what was it? She could smell…sweat…? Someone sweaty and smelly was in the next bed. And there was some bloody odor mixed in it too. It's hard not to notice these things in a small two-bed ward. She was alone last time she woke up. _"Did someone else get hurt? Was it Neji-niisan? Is that why whoever it is, is in this room? Because it's Neji?" _She thought to herself, when she noticed just the faintest odor of something else. Something…salty…with a touch of sweet smell to it too…and almost…meaty? Where had she smelled that before? Then she remembered that it was a smell that lingered around one ninja. One orange clad ninja. She took another whiff to be sure…and sure enough…it smelled like…ramen! Her breath stopped and her eyes bulged.

"_Oh God! Oh God! Oh my! Oh my! Naruto-kun! Naruto-kun is here. He's in the next bed. We're alone in a room. OhGodOhGodOhGodOhGod!"_

With a some effort, she activated her byakugan to look through the curtains, and sure enough, there he lay. Naruto lay on the bed unconscious, his jacket on the seat next to it. She could see little dots on his arms where tenketsu where supposed to be. He was breathing raggedly. She saw his chest go up and down unsteadily.

All thoughts vanished from her mind until only one which was etched clearly on her face was left. Fear.

She tried to get up and go over to him. She had to. She absolutely had to. The tears were threatening to take over her, but she held them back, with the determination she somehow got from him. She gently disconnected the tube from her hand after closing the valve. She didn't need to be sedated anymore, and quite frankly, she was getting tired of passing out.

She wobbled unsteadily around the curtain until she caught sight of his body.

Her breath caught, and she froze again. Never before had she seen Naruto in such a state. He was always happy, and bouncing around with his boundless energy. He never seemed to get hurt and he never stopped moving. But now…he lay there. Motionless, save for the unsteady chest motion. His arms were pockmarked with bruises from Neji's jyuken jabs. She didn't need the byakugan to know that there were more under his black t-shirt. And he was so…still. It felt wrong…Naruto-kun wasn't supposed to be like this.

When her breath returned, it came in sobs. And the dams in her eyes finally burst. Tears streamed down her face almost endlessly. She covered her mouth as she cried at the sight of the broken boy. Somewhere deep beneath all the fear and concern, a tiny fraction of her mind was thankful that Naruto wasn't awake to see her in such a state. She was pitiful. Or at least that's what she thought she was. She didn't even seem to notice herself walk to the chair by his bedside. She picked up the orange jacket, and hugged it to herself, hoping the scent would calm her down. She took the seat, and sat there, letting her tears run dry.

"_I want to help Naruto-kun…but how…what can I do…? Am I still as useless as ever? I feel that way…after all, Naruto-kun is still unconscious and I'm just…useless. I can't do anything…or…can i?"_

Inspiration flashed across her face, as her eyes shot open. She lifted her face from the embrace of his jacket. She stood up shakily and took several breaths to steady herself as she thought about what she was about to do.

"I can do this…I can do this…Naruto-kun believed in me. Now it's my turn to help him."

In a move that was uncharacteristically bold, she reached out and gently laid a hand on his arm. She was getting a feel for him. She could feel his hard muscles underneath the skin. He was still a boy, but that didn't stop him from having the muscles of a man. Hinata couldn't help but blush at the contact she was making, and at the thoughts she was having. It didn't surprise her though. Naruto-kun trained like a beast and she knew it. She gripped his forearms, and felt her way up and down his biceps and shoulders. He was tense. And she knew why. The question was, could she do anything about it.

"I have to try…for Naruto-kun. Byakugan!"

Her chakra flared as her kekkei-genkai activated. She still couldn't see tenketsu, but she could see the spots where Neji had jabbed at him. She could see that his chakra was not flowing smoothly as it should. It was ragged and disjointed, because the points had been blocked off. Slowly, she touched two fingertips on the inside of his wrist and pushed chakra into it. Just a little bit, in an attempt to reopen his tenketsu. She removed her hand and watched his chakra coils adapt to the change. The effect was almost immediate. She noticed the smoother flow of chakra in his hands.

"I…I did it! I did it!" Hinata was beaming with pride and accomplishment. She'd finally done something worthwhile in her mind. She spent little time rejoicing as she continued to revel in her new discovery by moving onto the next tenketsu and much to her delight, this one opened up as well. She continued up his arm, and moved onto the next one until the chakra in his arms were all normal again.

Now she was at a roadblock. His chakra was far from back to normal. Several more tenketsu lay beneath his shirt. And to reach them…she would have to…she would…have to…

"I'd have to…strip…him…"

The words didn't sound real. It couldn't be real. There was no way she was going to see Naruto-kun shirtless, right? This was all a dream. Right…? She pinched herself to make sure. She closed her eyes and opened them again. Nothing changed. She was standing over the body of a hospitalized Naruto. And she'd have to strip him to help him.

…

"_KYAAAA!"_ she screamed in her mind. All coherent thought disappeared when a small trickle of blood ran from her nose onto her lip, as her face invented a new shade of red.

"_NO! Bad Hinata! This isn't the time for…that…! Naruto-kun needs help. And you are NOT going to faint just because of his…half…naked…OH GOD! NO! NONONO! Get a hold of yourself girl. He needs you!"_

She took more breaths. "That's right. Naruto-kun needs me. I won't fail him"

She reached out with shaky hands and grabbed the hem of his shirt, praying that he wouldn't wake up. She carefully rolled it up his body until she reached his shoulders. _"This could be troublesome." _She thought of a way around it, but in the end, she realized that she had no choice but to adjust his arms. With some effort, she finally managed to get the shirt over his head, thinking to herself what a miracle it was that he hasn't woken up.

She was stunned for a couple of seconds by the bare-chested Naruto laying before here. She sighed almost wistfully as fantasies flooded her mind endlessly. But she put those thoughts away with a shake of her head and got down to business. One by one, she gently poked the tenketsu. Truth be told, she was having a bit more childish fun than she should have been. Occasionally trying to tickle him to see if he would react. Playfully poking him. She couldn't help but smile and blush.

Once the last tenketsu was opened, she sighed and stepped back to observe the results. His chakra was finally flowing normally. And the smallest twitches momentarily made it look like he was smiling…and his body seemed to relax…and his furrowed brow seemed to smoothen…his brow…

"That's odd." Hinata remarked.

She inched a hand closer to his face and touched his headband. Something felt…off about it. She carefully removed the headband and stared at it. Hey byakugan showed her more details than any normal eye could hope to see.

"_That's a…palm print…isn't it…? Did niisan…did he…? Oh no!"_

Her head snapped up and she turned all her focus on Naruto's head. Her fears were spot on. The fact that the brain was the control center of the body meant that a lot of chakra flowed through it. So much so that it normally looks like a solid ball of chakra. But she saw that something was wrong with Naruto's flow. It wasn't regular. His chakra was spiking everywhere in his head. Almost all his chakra pathways in the brain were closed off. This was causing his chakra to go wild in his head

"Jyuken strike to the head." She whispered to herself. _"That's why he hasn't woken up. He…he's in…he's in a…a coma!" _At this thought, she broke down again. She collapsed onto the chair, eyes wide and tears flowing. There was no way she was ready to try and fix that. The brain held the most complex part of the chakra system. Several tenketsu covered it. She couldn't attempt to help him without fear of killing him! "No…no…Naruto-kun…wake up…please…please wake up…you can't go like this…you can't…I…I…I need you. You c-can't…don't…don't le-le-leave me! Please. Please wake up!"

She reached out a shaky hand to rest on his face. She got no response. She felt her heart clench painfully before she passed out once again.

-Konoha Stadium-

"If he doesn't show up soon…I came here to kill somebody…I don't care who…he better show up…or someone will die." Gaara said to Genma, who could've sworn he felt some sand moving beneath his feet.

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A/N: And there you have it. The prelude to Sasuke vs Gaara. Please note that this will be the first time I am attempting to write a fight scene, so expect a delay. I still have exams to study for, but I do think about the story in all my spare time. Leave a review and tell me what you think of my style of writing, and my version of Hinata. I know it seems like the mainstream Hinata on , but this version is my personal favorite. Don't worry though, she will grow out of her shell.

Anyway, until next time, stay awesome! (awesome, awsum...geddit? :D)


	3. Sasuke vs Gaara

A/N: Here it is! My take on Sasuke vs. Gaara. My first ever fight scene. Before I wrote this, I actually watched the anime fight, and found it to be extremely boring. So, I really hope this one trumps the original.

Disclaimer: If I owned Naruto, I would've written the actual fight like this!

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Sasuke vs. Gaara

The atmosphere in the stadium was heavy with a sense of tense anticipation so thick you could cut it with a kunai. Genma stood before Gaara, doing his best to not show any emotion. But he could not escape the sinister sensations that seemed to be coming off of Gaara. Coupled with the fact that he was getting more and more irritated at Kakashi's tardiness, Genma was not a happy camper.

A swirl of leaves and a soft thud. "Yo!" A familiar voice called out from the leaves

The voice belonged to none other than Konoha's jutsu specialist, one of the top jonins of Konoha, Copy-Ninja Hatake Kakashi. He stood there with a familiar orange book in hand. At his back was the top rookie of the year, the last Uchiha, the newest prodigy of Konoha; Uchiha Sasuke.

It took all of Genmas willpower to stop himself from spitting his senbon into Kakashi's visible eye.

"Sorry about that. We were on our way here and there was this old lady-"

"Stow it Kakashi. You're the only man I know who's gonna be late for his own funeral because of some "old lady." Now get outta here." Genma muttered at Kakashi, with plenty of irritation in his voice. He was gonna get more payback later. Definitely.

Kakashi turned to Sasuke who had been silent since arriving. "You know what to do."

"Hai, sensei." Sasuke said as he watched Kakashi flashstep to the stands leaving a puff of dust where he was just a fraction of a second ago.

"_Tch. Damn that Kakashi. Well at least now we can get this going." _"The final match between Sabaku no Gaara of Sunagakure, and Uchiha Sasuke of Konohagakure will now…BEGIN!" Genma yelled as he jumped back to a safe distance to observe the fight. Truth be told, a larger part of his focus was on Gaara.

Sasuke hadn't so much as twitched as Genma stepped away. He continued to watch the sand swirl ominously around Gaara, as if waiting for Gaara to make the first move. Black eyes stared into green.

Out of nowhere, Gaara suddenly convulsed. A hand flew up to his face and his expressionless mask shattered into a strained and sadistic grin. Sasuke watched, unsure of what was going on. The redhead started speaking to himself. _"What the hell is this guy?" _Sasuke was sure, that amidst all the rambling, he caught the word, kaa-san.

If Sasuke was shaken, he didn't show it. Then, as quickly as it had started, it was over. And the mask returned. Sasuke watched as Gaara composed himself. _"This guy is dangerous. I have to end this, fast." _

Without warning, sand started to flow out of Gaara's gourd. The sand flew towards Sasuke and took the shape of a spearpoint. But the Uchiha was fast enough to evade the spear and jumped back and twisted to the side to avoid getting hit. As he turned, he fired a handful of shuriken at Gaara. The sand immediately put up wall to stop the projectiles. The sand seemed to harden around the shuriken and pulsed suddenly as it shot the shuriken back at Sasuke, who pulled out a kunai and deflected the shuriken.

Gaara didn't stop his attack there as he shot two tendrils of sand at Sasuke this time. Instead of dodging backwards, Sasuke ran straight at them, kunai in hand. As the first tendril was about to strike, he ducked under it, and leaped over the second one as it came to swipe his legs. He was simply too fast to be hit by the sand. He twisted and turned as Gaara shot out another spear of sand, all the while running towards the Suna genin. _"I've got you now!" _He jabbed the kunai at Gaara, aiming straight for his eyes.

But he was stopped by the wall of sand. The sand grabbed the kunai and started to take it in. Sasuke could feel that the tendrils where coming back to attack him from behind. He released the kunai and leapt up and over Gaara to get behind him. He dashed several yards away to regroup and strategize.

"_The speed of that sand seems to increase the closer it is to him. That's why the sand can protect him so fast, but it can't hit me. And he's not making any hand signs or using any jutsu. He hasn't even moved from the start. Maybe the sand protects him regardless of his will. But he must be mentally controlling the attacks. Looks like my biggest advantage here is my speed."_

Gaara turned his head slowly and shot a death glare at Sasuke. He flicked one hand as another onslaught of sand rushed towards Sasuke. He dodged and let fly a single kunai right at Gaara. But once again the wall stopped it. But this didn't faze Sasuke. In fact, he smirked at the outcome and it was soon evident why.

The kunai exploded, or rather, the explosive tag on it exploded, sending the sand every which way, and knocking Gaara off his feet. The shockwave that hit Gaara was somewhat muted as the sand absorbed a lot of the impact. It was more the surprise that knocked Gaara down than anything else. A few seconds passed and Gaara got up onto his feet, an insane look of death in his eyes. But Sasuke's attention was elsewhere. He was observing the speed at which the sand recovered from the explosion. He observed that the sand took a fair amount of time before pulling itself together. It was enough for a small opening.

"_Time to kick things up a notch." _At this thought, he shut his eyes. The only thing that prevented Gaara from killing Sasuke then and there was sheer curiosity. He was confused about why his opponent would close his eyes in the middle of a fight, especially when his death was so close. In fact, the entire crowd was wondering the same thing. They watched in confusion, and some with a little fear, as their prodigy stood before a killer. Then, quick as a flash, all their questions were answered.

"SHARINGAN!"

The stadium broke out into applause, though it was mostly coming from Konoha ninja and citizens. The rest of them waited and watched, as the fabled Sharingan made its appearance.

Sasuke didn't waste any time and took off with a speed even greater than before. He ran straight at Gaara and threw more shuriken at him. Gaara wasn't fast enough to react but the sand was. It stopped the shuriken again. But this was the plan all along. The last thing Gaara saw was Sasuke with a triumphant look on his face as he seemingly vanished from sight. He reappeared instantly behind Gaara and attempted to stab him with a kunai. But he was again stopped. But this time, he managed to get the point of the kunai through the wall. Gaara turned back, shock evident on his face at the sudden increase of speed from the Uchiha. _"It's just like before." _Gaara thought, fear beginning to set in as he knew what was coming.

But knowing wasn't enough. Once again, Sasuke vanished. This time he reappeared even closer to Gaara. With a battlecry, Sasuke connected his fist with Gaara's jaw from below in a vicious uppercut that sent Gaara flying. Shock was the only thing that registered in Gaara's mind. He landed in crumpled heap on the arena floor. He staggered up and looked at Sasuke who had assumed a stance Gaara had fought against once before in the preliminary rounds. _"No. It can't be. He's just like the other ninja. The one that couldn't use jutsu. How? How is that possible? Is this…is this the power of the sharingan?"_

Up in the stands, jaws were hitting the floor as they watched Sasuke completely outclass Gaara. Not the least of whom, was Maito Gai. He looked to his eternal rival with question marks all over his face. Kakashi just smile underneath his mask as he explained. "That's right Gai. That was yours and Lee's taijutsu. If you think back to Lees match with Gaara, you would've noticed that I made Sasuke watch the fight with his sharingan. It wasn't so that he could actually see the movements that were too fast for the normal eye to see. I made him record every move he saw. I spent the last month training his body to keep up with the strain that was put on the body from moving like that. Right now, he's about as fast as Lee with his weights on."

Lee looked on with fire in his eyes. "Sasuke. It took me years of hard training to obtain the speed that I have. And you…you've accomplished that in the space of a month…your sharingan truly does make you a genius."

Sasuke stood tall at the center of the arena, his body turned at an angle away from Gaara. He held out one hand in front of him, palm facing in, and fingers pointing up. The stance of Lee's Strong Fist taijutsu. _"Alright. I can get him with weapons and explosives, but I have to be fast. I can't keep up this speed for too long though. Ten more minutes and I'm out. But I need to know one more thing before I can end this fight." _Sasuke dropped his stance and turned to face Gaara full-on. He quickly ran through the hand signs, ending on Tiger.

"Katon: Gōkakyū no Jutsu!"

He shot the giant ball of fire at Gaara with all the power he could spare. As the fireball rocketed towards him, Gaara could feel the heat even through his sand armor. He stood on the spot, frozen with fear as the inferno got closer and closer. Instinctively he raised his arms to try and shield himself. It was sheer luck that his sand followed the motion of his arms and formed a barrier in front of him. The fireball barreled into the sand wall and an almighty explosion ensued creating a mushroom cloud of dust so thick, only a byakugan could see through it. The whole stadium was stunned into silence by the display of power from the Uchiha prodigy. As the dust began to settle, people were finally able to see the aftermath of Sasuke's attack.

The wall of sand which had risen to protect Gaara stopped moving. It seemed almost…frozen. As the dust continued to settle, the result was finally seen. The outermost layer of the sand had melted. Now there was covering of glass surrounding the entire wall. You could still see a smaller wall of sand inside the glass though. If you think about it in a different way, it actually looked like a piece of art.

Gaara was stunned. He couldn't believe the power he was facing from a single genin. _"How is this possible? How can he be so strong? I haven't managed to land a hit on him. And he can get inside my defence? This is not possible. This is preposterous!" _Gaara glared daggers at Sasuke who stood with a calculating look on his face. He shattered the glass and broke his sand free of it, all the while thinking of ways to kill Sasuke.

"_Alright. This is it." _Sasuke flared his chakra as prepared for a final assault on a furious Gaara. He again assumed to strong fist stance and vanished in a blur. Gaara turned around, anticipating the attack and raised a wall of sand to block the kunai that was flying at him from behind. He caught a glimpse of Sasuke before he vanished again, again reappearing behind him and once again throwing a kunai. This one got closer to finding its mark. This too was blocked by the sand. Gaara's sand had almost formed a full circle around him. _"Now!" _at Sasuke's signal, the explosive tags on the kunai detonated from inside the sand. Gaara was stunned by the shockwaves coming at him from both directions. But Sasuke didn't give him any reprieve.

As soon as the sand was blasted apart, Sasuke was on the move again. Moving with a speed that could match Lee without his weights on, he rushed Gaara. He made it past the swirling sand and stopped just in front of Gaara before dropping down and unleashing a thunderous kick, straight up at Gaara's jaw. This sent Gaara towards the heavens and Sasuke wasted no time waiting. He leaped up at Gaara, and was already running through the hand signs for his next attack. In a stunning move, he twisted in midair, turning his back to Gaara and turning to face the ground instead.

"Katon: Gōkakyū no Jutsu!" He shot the blaze straight at the Gaara's sand which was trying to catch up to him in an effort to protect Gaara. The sand once again turned to glass and was stopped, even if it was for just a moment. But it was enough. The rebound force of his jutsu propelled him towards Gaara at a greater speed than before. He angled his body and positioned himself right behind Gaara, and proclaimed in a triumphant voice "Kage Buyō!"

At this, he delivered a vicious knee to Gaara's back, and grabbed his arm and spun him around, planting a straight punch to his gut. He followed up by flashing to Gaara's back and smashing both forearms on his back. He grabbed Gaara by the shirt before he flew away and planted both feet on the small of Gaara's back and rocketed him towards the ground as if he were shot out of a cannon. Sasuke followed suit and as soon as he caught up to Gaara, he delivered a jaw-breaking cross to Gaara's face, which sent Gaara into a spin. They were getting closer and closer to the ground and breakneck speeds. Sasuke sent his own body into a spin, lifting his leg high up. The instant Gaara crashed into the ground, Sasuke brought his heel down onto Gaara's stomach with deadly force. "SHISHI RENDAN!"

The whole crowd was stunned into silence, especially the Suna nin. Gaara was literally being beaten to a pulp by one genin. The silence was only momentary though, as the crowd erupted into an explosion of applause for Sasuke who had leaped back, and was now standing in the Strong Fist stance, seeming only slightly out of breath, but none the worse for wear. He took a moment to bask in the admiration that he felt he thoroughly deserved. Kakashi had a grin of triumph under his mask, while Gai just looked on and cried waterfalls while saying something like "Geniuses…it's not fair." Even Genma sported a satisfied smirk as he waited for the dust to settle before making it official.

Across the stadium, in the section where the Suna nins were situated, the atmosphere was very different. Anger, frustration, confusion, and hesitation seemed to be the emotions being passed around. _"This is not good. Gaara was not supposed to take this much damage. If this keeps up, he won't be of any use to the plan. And this whole plan is centered on him. Dammit. Did we underestimate Konoha or overestimate ourselves?" _Baki was starting to feel the pressure as he waited with Temari and Kankuro for the Kazekage to give the signal to begin the invasion. However, the Kazekage was still just watching the match attentively, as was the rest of the Suna contingent.

Gradually, the dust around Gaara began to recede. Genma could just see Gaara's shape in what appeared to be a small crater. When the dust settled, a defeated Gaara lay on a mound of sand. His gourd could not be seen. It seems that it had turned to sand to cushion the impact. But it had not been enough. Gaara did not move. Genma raised his hand to declare Sasuke the winner, when he stopped cold. A burst of killer intent erupted from Gaara, and the whole stadium turned their attention to him. He twitched. He shook. He convulsed slightly. Shakily, he raised an arm to prop himself up. The whole crowd gasped in shock at what they saw.

Gaara's face was cracking. And bits of it were falling off, and turning to sand. "What is going on?" Sasuke questioned. "Your guess is as good as mine." Genma replied. Gaara stood slowly as bits of his skin seemed to fall off and turn to sand. Then it became all too clear. He was protected by a second shield. A layer of sand all over his body.

"Gaara's ultimate defence. The Armor of Sand. Highly compressed sand that covers his entire body like armor plating. It can take any kind of hit from any kind of weapon. To actually crack that armor, you'd need a ridiculous amount of power. Jonin level at least. No genin should be able to hurt Gaara this much. And that's not even the worst of it. The armor drains a ton of chakra. I know Gaara has _that _but it's not enough. Using this will have left him drained. There's no way he's gonna recover in time for the mission now." Temari was starting to get angry as the whole plan started to crumble away much like Gaara's armor.

Back on the ground, Gaara was using the momentary respite to compose himself. His armor stopped crumbling and actually started reforming. As the last bit of his armor restored his passive expression, he brought his hands together and the sand started enveloping him in a sphere. Seeing that he was trying to shield himself in, Sasuke rushed Gaara again, but the sand closed in too fast. Sasuke's punch didn't so much as leave a print on the dense orb. In fact, the impact actually caused his knuckles to bleed. Without warning, a spike of sand shot at his face. It was only with his sharingan that he was able to jump back and avoid all the others that shot at him.

"_NO! Gaara…Gaara is going to use…that…THAT jutsu. Now? The mission hasn't started yet? What is he thinking? Is he even thinking at all? Damn you Gaara! If you live through this, I'll see to it myself that you're imprisoned for endangering the lives of fellow Suna nin!" _Baki was visibly shaking with rage, and Kankuro and Temari knew why. They knew what was next. He turned to the direction of the kages' box, but Kazekage-sama wasn't paying attention to him. His focus was solely on the match.

"_Damn! I didn't think he could pack that sand so tight. It's a good thing I pulled my punch at the last instant. Nothing's broken. I was hoping to get through this without using that jutsu. But it seems like that would be the only thing that has a chance of getting through that shell. Well. It's now or never." _At this, Sasuke leaped backwards and all the way to the top of the stadium wall, holding himself up with chakra. He took a breath and ran through the hand signs, and pointed his left hand at the ground, holding the wrist with his right.

Meanwhile, up in the stands, Gai's eyes widened as he recognized the signs. He turned to Kakashi and sputtered out "Ka…Kakashi…you…you didn't." Kakashi just gave him his trademark eye smile and replied "Oh but I did, Gai. I did." Sakura looked at the two jonin in confusion and asked what was going on. Gai composed himself and replied for his eternal rival, with just a hint of admiration in his voice. "That technique. It works by focusing a large amount of chakra into one hand and using it to strengthen what would otherwise be a simple straight thrust. That technique is Konoha's resident ninjutsu expert, master of several hundred ninjustu, Hatake Kakashi's one and only original jutsu."

As Gai continued to explain, chakra swirled around Sasuke with his hand becoming a focal point. Soon, the chakra took a bright white color and actually became visible. Sakura was shocked, as were the other genin. They had never seen so much chakra, so well refined and controlled like that. At one point, it started crackling and sparking out all over the place as if Sasuke was holding a fistful of pure electricity in his hand.

"The chakra used in for that technique is lightning elemental, which is why you can see it so clearly right now. Kakashi's powered up version of the technique was given the title, Raikiri, because he actually split a bolt of lightning with his jutsu." Gai continued.

Sasuke's eyes shot up. He raced towards the ground and unreal speeds, dragging his hand along the wall, carving a gigantic gash into it.

"Sasuke's version is actually the origin of Kakashi's jutsu. It is weaker and less refined than the Raikiri, but still formidable, nonetheless. The sound you hear is coming from the sheer amount of electricity sparking around the hand. There's so much of it that it actually sounds like a thousand birds chirping."

Sasuke shot across the ground leaving a trail of destruction following him. In seconds, he was within striking distance of Gaara, having avoided the spikes of sand with flawless fluidity.

"That's why the technique has been so aptly named-"

"CHIDORI!" Sasuke roared in unison with Gai, as the lightning infused hand struck the orb, easily stabbing through it.

A moment of silence passed. Sasuke withdrew his hand. His hand was covered in blood. Then…a bloodcurdling scream erupted from the dome of sand.

Almost in the same instant, the Kages' box erupted into a cloud of smoke.

"The signal! Now? But…Gaara is injured. What is Kazekage-sama thinking? Still…orders are orders. We have to do this. It's now or never!" Baki declared as he reached for his radio.

"All platoon commanders. The signal has been received. Execute command Delta Tango Lima."

He turned to Temari and Kankuro. "Get Gaara out of there. Tend to his wounds and prepare him for the war. Today…we destroy the leaf!"

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A/N: There you have it. I hope you enjoyed that. The next update might take a while longer. Up next is the invasion arc minus Naruto. SO much going on at the same time, and in the space of only one day. GAH! But I will do my best. My main goal is to make my story believable. I want you readers to read it and think "Yea that could've easily happened". The fact that I'm a bit of a perfectionist doesn't help either. So yea. The invasion might be split into two chapters too. Ok no more spoilers. Until next time, stay awsum!


	4. Invasion of Konoha - Part 1

A/N: Hey guys. A couple of things. First of all, sorry for the delay. I was swamped with exams and I caught a friggin flu on top of that. Also, the invasion arc is proving to be very difficult to write, so bear with me please.

Next up, one of the readers, Flying Raijin, was kind enough to point out a sentence where I had stated that Kakashi flashstepped away. What I meant to say was Kakashi used the shunshin technique to flicker away. I am not going to take down the entire chapter to make one little correction, and so I'll leave it as a note here. Thanks man.

And finally, this is where the story shifts away from the canon. I do try to remain realistic, but some things may come off as surprising. Try to remember that this is MY story and Mr. Kishimotos. Things will be different, and if you compare them to his universe, it might not even seem possible. Also, I'm gonna take this chance to give a shout out to a friend of mine, Moony, who helped come up with some of the ideas here. Thanks Moony.

Alright, that's all. Enjoy your reading.

Disclaimer: If I owned Naruto, he'd know at least one more element by now, ffs.

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**Invasion of Konoha – Part 1**

-Kage box-

"Kazekage-dono. What is the meaning of this? We have an alliance." Sarutobi spoke calmly. He had not moved from his seat, despite the unexpected smokescreen.

"An alliance is merely an illusion that helps one side be better prepared for war." The Kazekage replied.

"Alliances are meant to foster true peace and understanding between the villages. It is not a tool for war. It is a path to peace." Sarutobi fired back.

"And that is why your village will fall today. Because of your weak ideals. You have grown soft, old man. And now, your village will pay the price for it." The Kazekage vanished and reappeared behind the Hokage, with a kunai at his throat. Both kages seemingly teleported to the roof of the building, with speed that could only be achieved by a kage.

"It is not too late, Kazekage. You can still stop this madness. And you can stop the upcoming loss of life. Pull back now. Or I _will _stop you." Sarutobi proclaimed.

The Kazekage remained unfazed. "You cannot and will not stop me. You had your chance once before, old man. But you failed. And you will fail again. And this time, I _will _destroy Konoha. And it will be all because of _your _weakness, sensei!"

Sarutobi's eyes widened at the last word. It couldn't be. But there was no other explanation. It had to be true. "You! So you've finally come back, Orochimaru!"

-Top of the Hokage Monument-

"Damn that old man. What the hell is he thinking? I'm a freaking Sannin. I'm the strongest ninja that old fart's got. And he puts me, ME, The Great Jiraiya, Toad Sage and seal master of Konoha, on freaking guard duty. I bet he's doing this because he got a complaint from one of the bath houses. WHICH I CAN'T EVEN SEE FROM HERE! And I don't get to watch to exams either. Screw that old man. I feel like painting his gigantic face with makeup again. Just like old times. Maybe I should. He deserves it. This is a waste of my talents!"

Jiraiya continued his private rant, seated atop the Sandaime's head as he overlooked all of Konoha. He could see all the way to the walls on all sides of the village. He could see the stadium and could just barely make out some of the bath houses from his vantage point. Sadly his trusted telescope was not powerful enough to give him a clear view of either.

The village was calm and there was nothing going on besides the finals. Everyone was there, watching the matches except the poor souls who were put on guard duty. He was just about to abandon his post and wander off, just to take a small break/peek when a plume of smoke rose from the stadium. This was followed by a burst of sinister chakra from the same direction. _"That can't be good." _Jiraiya thought as he leaped off the head to make his way towards the stadium. He hadn't taken 2 steps when a massive explosion from the west of the village. _"And that's even worse. Just my luck. That old man better be fine. There's plenty of jonin in that stadium though. I'm sure they'll be able to deal with whatever's going on there. This might need my attention though." _The explosion created a towering cloud of dust that hung ominously in the air. "Gotta find Ibiki first." Jiraiya said to himself as he raced towards ANBU headquarters.

-Konoha Stadium-

"Genma! What is going on?!" Sasuke shouted in an anxious tone, as he felt the ground tremble.

Before Genma could reply, Temari, Kankuro, and Baki appeared next to Gaara. The sand sphere was collapsing as Temari and Kankuro approached. Baki stood between them and the leaf duo. Soon the sand had settled enough to show that Gaara was indeed, wounded. His shoulder was mangled and bloody, and his left arm hung limply as he screamed in agony again.

"You two! Get him out of here and prepare him. I'll hold these two off." Baki commanded, never taking his eyes off Genma. The Sand Siblings took off, up and over the stands

Genma tensed and shifted himself between Baki and Sasuke. "To answer your question, Sasuke, we have been betrayed by the Sand. They have chosen to invade us. This is the real deal now, rookie. We're at war." Genma spoke to Sasuke, though his attention was on Baki. "Sasuke. The exams are over now. You've proven, at least to me that you've got what it takes to be a chunin. Since wartime protocol is in place, I'm assigning you an a-rank mission. You've got the skills to pull this off."

Sasuke was beginning to compose himself. _"We're at war. And I'm getting a solo mission. Alright! This is finally my chance to prove that I'm the best around!" _Sasuke was getting excited at the thought of being a war hero. "Hai! What's my mission?"

"Finish the job. Assassinate Gaara. If those two get in the way, take them out. If you need help take any of the genin that you want." Genma ordered. Sasuke didn't waste a second as he took off after the sand nins.

"As if you can actually get away from me." Baki yelled, as he hurled several kunai at Sasuke. Genma threw his own kunai which deflected all of Baki's weapons. "As if you can actually hold me off. Tch. You'll be lucky if you even manage to hold your own against me. Don't underestimate Konoha. It'll be your death." Genma declare as he spat out his senbon to deflect the needle that Baki threw at him, as the two rushed towards each other.

-In the stands-

"ALL AVAILABLE JONIN AND CHUNIN! TO ME!" Kakashi shouted as he and Gai stood back to back holding off the onslaught of sand nins. Several jonin and chunin appeared at his command, as he addressed them. "We're at war. In accordance with wartime protocol, I am assigning you all missions. All chunin will stay in the stadium with me and Gai and clear out the stands, and dispel the genjustu, section by section. Jonin, spread out through Konoha, and head to the gates, and make sure they aren't breached. Deputize the genin to escort civilians and academy students to the bunkers. I don't need to tell you this, but Konoha is at stake. Now. DISPERSE!"

As the chunin got into formation and took the attack to the sand, the jonin vanished out of the stadium and ran to the walls.

"KAKASHIIII! I'VE TAKEN DOWN SEVEN ALREADY! AND IT'S ONLY BEEN TWO MINUTES!" Gai yelled emphatically as he delivered a vicious heel kick to an oncoming Suna nin. At the same time, Kakashi had dispatched a sound nin by stabbing a kunai into the back of his neck. "That makes nine." Kakashi replied calmly as the oto nin fell flat.

"YOSH! ON TO THE NEXT SECTION. WHOEVER GETS LESS WILL DO TWO HUNDRED LAPS AROUND KONOHA!"

"Guess that means I have to be serious then. Alright. Let's get serious." Kakashi lifted his headband and opened his sharingan as he dashed into the next section.

-ANBU Headquarters-

Jiraiya landed on the rooftop and was not surprised to find the scarred man already standing there, hands in his trench coat pockets. "Ibiki. Status report." Jiraiya wasted no time beating around the bush.

Ibiki gave a small bow to the Sannin and replied. "Jiraiya-sama. We are surrounded. There's an army of Suna nin approaching from the south, and Oto nin from the east. Scouts have confirmed that the suna have about four hundred, while the oto have about two hundred."

"And that explosion to the west?" Jiraiya questioned.

Ibiki opened his mouth to answer, but stopped short as a thunderous explosion was heard again from the west. The turned sharply to the western wall…or what's left of it.

Three giant snakes had broken through the wall. They were destroying the buildings and people were running every which way in terror.

"That." Ibiki said, monotonously.

"Damn. So it's war, then? Alright. Nothing new." Jiraiya bit his thumb and ran through the signs before pointing his hand to the ANBU training ground. In a giant puff of smoke, a toad, the size of a small mountain appeared on the training ground. "Gamahiro. Konoha is being invaded. I need you to take out those snakes as quickly and with as little collateral damage as possible. If possible, push them out of the village before killing them." Jiraiya spoke to the toad who gave a nod and jumped the buildings as he headed towards the snakes.

"I'll take the Oto army. Ibiki. Mobilize an army and defend the southern gate. If that gate falls, Konoha is doomed." Jiraiya ordered as he shifted into full on warrior mode.

"Understood, Jiraiya-sama." Ibiki bowed to Jiraiya and turned to his ANBU. "Well, you heard the man. GET A MOVE ON MAGGOTS! THIS IS WAR!"

A battlecry was heard before the ANBU began to mobilize as Jiraiya took off to the east.

-Above the Hokage box-

The roof over the Hokage was covered in a purple barrier that had been set up by the Sound Four, as soon as both the ninjas had landed. No one was getting in or out.

"Orochimaru. So you've finally returned. What are you going to do now?" Sarutobi asked, the kunai still pressed against his throat.

"Kukuku…what am I going to do? Lots of things, sensei. Lots of things. This village shunned me when I should have been Hokage. Then you exiled me, simply for chasing my dreams, just like any other ninja. So I am going to level this village until there's nothing left. Not even the rubble. And as for you. I am simply going to kill you, Sarutobi-sensei." Orochimaru proclaimed.

"I did not choose you as Hokage because you lacked the morals for it. The Hokage is supposed to be a protector, a guardian and a shield to the village. You just wanted power and immortality. You were exiled for experimenting on the villagers and ninja of Konoha. You betrayed the trust the civilians give you, you betrayed the trust of your fellow ninja, and most of all, you betrayed me. I let you go last time because I couldn't bear to strike down my favorite pupil." Sarutobi spoke with regret in his voice as he remembered his failures of the past, and the mistakes that he made that led to this.

"No more!" The tone in Sarutobi's voice changed. It rang with determination and fire as he deftly escaped Orochimaru's clutches and put some distance between them. He had shed his Hokage robe and hat as he faced Orochimaru in his full battle outfit. "Where is the Kazekage?"

"Kukukuku…He's dead. I killed him. I simply took his face before he died. Shall I show you?" Orochimaru snickered wickedly as he reached a hand up to his face to remove the mask. Along with the hat and loose mask, the skin seemed to melt off until the true face was seen. Pale white complexion, purple marks beneath his eyes.

"So…you finally completed that jutsu. You have attained your desired immortality I presume" Sarutobi inquired with disgust.

"Yes, sensei. I am immortal now. I have defeated death. Age will not kill me. And neither will you." Orochimaru replied, triumph already in his voice.

"That is where you are wrong, Orochimaru. Today, you do not face your sensei. You are not my student. You are a threat to Konoha. And as its Hokage, I WILL END YOU!" Sarutobi roared.

"JUST BRING IT OLD MAN!" Orochimaru screamed maniacally back as he rushed the Hokage to engage him in a Kage level taijutsu battle.

-Streets of Konoha-

"We have to get somewhere safe to tend to Gaara. We should head south, towards where our army is assembled." Temari instructed Kankuro who was supporting Gaara's, now unconscious, weight. Kankuro nodded. "What about that damned Uchiha still chasing us?" He said, starting to get annoyed at his persistence.

"No choice. We have to get behind the cover of our army. That'll stop him. So we keep running." Temari muttered, to which Kankuro agreed. Neither of them liked it, but for now, they had to run. And so, they sprinted through the streets as fast as they could, weaving in and out of fights and the scrambling civilians, until they eventually reached the gate.

-Konoha east wall-

Jiraiya stood outside the eastern gate, waiting for the enemy to show themselves. He had already used the time he had to lay out some basic traps here and there. Summoning Gamahiro had taken some chakra but it was starting to recover. He looked up at the sky, and the clouds rolling by, reminiscent of what the Nara clan would do so often.

It was a beautiful day. The sky was blue. The clouds looked like tufts of cotton and wisps of smoke. The sun was shining dazzlingly. If you paid enough attention, you could hear the birds in the nearby forest.

"This might actually be the last time I see this sky. Damn. How did I get myself into this? I'm about to take on an army of two hundred armed with nothing but myself. Twenty years ago, I wouldn't have broken a sweat. Now…I'm sweating already. Tch." Jiraiya continued to muse, not allowing himself to believe that this would be easy. Underestimating your opponent, even the newest genin, could be one way ticket to death.

A few more peaceful moments passed. Then, the first line popped up over the horizon.

"Alright. Here we go!" Jiraiya shifted into battle stance and was already signing as he rushed the first wave.

-Kage box rooftop-

The taijutsu battle had only gone on for a few minutes before both warriors pulled back. Though Orochimaru was well versed taijutsu, he preferred ninjutsu. His lack of interest in taijutsu, combined with the fact that Sarutobi was not the man he once was, the taijutsu skirmish ended in a stalemate.

"Orochimaru. You have made the mistake of underestimating Konoha. Konoha will not fall. Not today. Not ever. This village has over a thousand active ninja and the Sand have only about half as much. Their army cannot stand against mine. I think it's obvious that the Sound village belongs to you, does it not? And how many do you have? Three hundred? Four?" Sarutobi spoke spitefully.

"Kukuku. A lot of what you have said is true. The Sand have only half the army that Konoha have. And they didn't dare bring all of it, out of fear of leaving their village defenceless. And as for the size of my army, I only have two hundred. You or Jiraiya alone should be more than capable of dealing with that, don't you think? But I have not made any mistake today, old man. In fact. It is YOU who has underestimated ME. You should know me better than anyone else. And that means that you would know better than anyone that I wouldn't go into battle with no less than THREE trump cards!" Orochimaru declared, with a malicious intent clear in his eyes.

"_Three trump cards? Yes…that has always been his way of doing things. How could I not remember? Did I actually underestimate him?" _Sarutobi was genuinely worried now.

"Since you're about to die, I might as well tell you. Kukuku…how clichéd. A villains exposé. Still. It matters not. The first." At this Orochimaru's head snapped up and he opened his mouth, out of which came a single snake. That snake in turn opened its mouth. From the depths of the snake, the hilt of a sword appeared. Orochimaru grabbed it, and proceeded to draw the sword, seemingly from within himself. "Kusanagi. The legendary blade that will take your life." He said as he settled into a kenjutsu stance.

"The second…is the Ichibi. The one-tailed Shukaku. Though he seems to have gotten himself hurt. It matters not. He will recover, and proceed to flatten this pitiful village until not even rubble is left."

"_The Ichibi?! How? How can he have a bijuu under his command? Or does he control the Jinchuriki? If so, then who is it? Shukaku of the Sand…sand…it must be that red headed boy, Gaara! This is bad. The only ones that can hold their own against a bijuu in this village are myself and Jiraiya. And I'm stuck here. So that must mean...Jiraiya is on his own. Damn you Orochimaru. How could you do this? And he has one MORE trump card?!"_

"I'll bet you can't wait to find out how I plan on topping that one, can you, Sarutobi-sensei?" Orochimaru mocked the Hokage. Then he started laughing. Softly at first. Then louder and louder until it rang throughout the barrier.

"My greatest triumph to date, excluding my immortality. It took me every year since I left Konoha, every day to this day. One thousand eight hundred ninja died, but now…now…I COMMAND AN ARMY OF TWO HUNDRED NINJA WITH THE CURSED SEAL! AND THEY WILL RAZE THIS VILLAGE TO ASHES!" Orochimaru screamed to the sky and roared out his twisted laughter, as Sarutobi tried to take in the overwhelming information.

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A/N: There you go. This is definitely not one of my better chapters, so I apologize. I have very little confidence in the whole invasion arc as well. I do have a plan, but putting it into writing is kinda tough. I promise to try and make the following arcs a lot better. Also, expect part 2 to be a little delayed as well. Leave a review but don't flame. I'm sensitive T.T

Till next time, stay awsum.


	5. Invasion of Konoha - Part 2

A/N: Finally part 2 of the invasion. This is also the final chapter of the invasion arc. To clarify, I meant to make the entire invasion arc as a sort of prologue to the whole story. It took five chapters, because I wanted a good solid foundation for my story to build on, so that you won't have as many questions later. I had such a tough time writing this arc because there was so much going on in so many places at the same time. The chaos was...GAH! I hope I did a good job though.

Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto (too bored to come up with anything more witty today)

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**Invasion of Konoha – Part 2**

-Konoha east gate-

"RASENGAN!" Jiraiya roared as he slammed the orb into the oto nin, trying to sneak into his blind spot. The ninja was shot back into the horde, spinning out of control. _"That makes 10." _Jiraiya thought as he leaped over a wave of earth heading towards him. He was doing his best to conserve his chakra by not using large jutsus, sticking mostly to taijutsu and weapons. He may be over 50 years old, but he was more than enough to take on an army of seemingly raw ninja.

"_This is the best that Orochi-teme had to offer? I have to say, I'm disappointed." _He smirked as he leaped and smashed his knee into another attacker's jaw, sending him reeling. He twisted in mid-air, planting a booming haymaker into the next ninja's temple. He used his momentum to continue his turn full circle and releasing several shuriken at a furious pace into the army, pushing them back several feet. He landed in a low crouch, already preparing the next attack. "Doton: Doryū Taiga!" The attack sent the next wave of attackers back in a mudslide, and bought Jiraiya a few minutes to catch his breath.

Then from within the ranks of oto nin, a shrill whistle was heard. At this, all the ninja stopped attacking and pulled back. _"They're pulling back to regroup. This can't end well. I gotta stop them." _At this, he started signing and took a full breath at the end.

"Katon: Housenka no Jutsu!"

Several fireballs shout out of his mouth into the horde of ninja. Some of the ninjas exploded as their explosives caught fire. Several others ended up with severe burns. Those that fell were abandoned by the rest as they continued to retreat. _"Tch. Still not enough."_

-Konoha south gate-

"Temari! The gate is just up ahead. And it looks like it's still open. Get ahead of me and clear a path!" Kankuro shouted as they neared the gate.

"Right." Temari answered, moving into the lead. She whipped out her fan and sent a cyclone of wind barreling towards the gate. The Leaf ninjas guarding the gate were caught off guard as they were all focused on the incoming army from outside the gate. They were blown away and the Sand siblings had a clear path. They wasted no time in dashing out the gate, past the recovering guards, and made a beeline towards the gathering point of the Suna army. "Hurry up Kankuro! We're almost there!" Temari shouted back at Kankuro. "Easy for you to say! You try running around with Gaara AND his stupid gourd on your shoulder!" Kankuro shot back.

-Konoha hospital-

Kurenai Yuhi had taken it upon herself to evacuate the hospital and all personnel to the bunkers. But she also wanted to check up on one student of hers. As such, she was clearing the floors room by room, until she found the one she was looking for.

She walked into the room and saw her student seemingly asleep at Naruto's bedside. She seemed to have collapsed, and it looked like she had been crying. She couldn't help but let out a small chuckle when she saw that Naruto was half naked. _"Oh Hinata. What have you been up to? Ah. Now is not the time for that."_

She walked over to them and gently shook Hinata's shoulders until her eyes fluttered open. "Se…Sensei?" Hinata mumbled out. "Yes Hinata, it's me. Now listen and listen carefully. This I going to sound very abrupt and sudden, so promise me you won't freak out and faint." Though she was embarrassed that her sensei thought so poorly of her, she nodded meekly. "Hinata. Konoha is under attack. We have been betrayed by the Sand, and we are fighting a war for survival. Hokage-sama is battling the traitor sannin, Orochimaru. Jiraiya-sama is also fighting somewhere, hopefully. The rest of the Konoha chunin and jonin are fighting against the Suna nin. Right now, I'm clearing out the hospital and getting everyone here to the bunkers. Since all able genin are helping with the evacuation, you have to help too. I want you to get Naruto out of here in any way you can. Wheelchair, gurney or even if you have to carry him on your shoulder. You're a ninja Hinata, which is why I am not assigning a nurse or someone else to take care of Naruto. Can I trust you to do this?"

Hinata's eyes widened at her sensei's instructions. She had told her not faint, not because she didn't believe in her, but this really was overwhelming news. But she soon snapped out of her daze and hardened her resolve. Now was her chance to help Naruto-kun. And she would not fail. She would not fail her sensei, she would not fail herself, and she especially would not fail him. "Hai, sensei."

"Excellent. Get him out of here as soon as possible. Oh and Hinata." Kurenai said to her student. "Yes, sensei?" Hinata replied. "Take good care of him. Protect him with your life. That boy is very special, and you will someday see that for yourself, possibly, no probably better than anyone else." Hinata blushed a little at the words and their apparent implications, but she looked at Naruto and determination flowed within her again. She would protect him at all costs. "Hai, sensei." She said with unshakeable resolve, as Kurenai moved onto the next room, pride starting to well in her.

-Konoha east-

Jiraiya was preparing for the worst as the sound army pulled back. He was already running through several scenarios in his head. Were they planning to change formation? Were they planning on fighting long range? Everyone fighting short range? Weapons? Summoning more snakes? He was concocting countermeasures when his questions were answered.

A massive surge of evil chakra pressure swept over the battlefield. Black patterns began to spread from their necks, covering their faces. But it didn't stop there. The markings thickened and began to envelope their entire skin, turning from black to a dark brown color. They began to transform physically as well. Several grew horns and claws. Several more grew tails. A few even sprouted wings and took to the skies. _"OH SHIT! They all have the curse mark. Shit shit shit shit shit SHIT! I could've handled a dozen or so of them, but an entire freaking battalion? NO FREAKING WAY! DAMN THAT OROCHI-BASTARD!" _Jiraiya was already retreating, trying to come up with a new way to fight the monster army. _"Goddammit! No choice then." _He bit his thumb, and signed, summoning two very old looking small toads. "Fukasaku-sensei. Shima-sensei. I need your help. Konoha is being attacked by an army of monster ninja that Orochimaru created. And I can only do it in sage mode."

"Jiraiya-boy. I wish we could've been summoned in better circumstances. Like at a bar or something." Fukasaku teased, despite the atmosphere as he and Shima hopped onto Jiraiya's shoulders and began gathering the natural energy.

"Senpō: Ryōsei no Jutsu." Both toads said in unison with Jiraiya as they fused onto his shoulders, while Jiraiya continued to distance himself from the army. Jiraiya could feel the natural energy flowing into him already, as his nose started to grow, and warts started to pop up. His markings grew wider and his little goatee grew as well. _"I hate having to rely on this. How will I ever get any ladies if they know I could look like this?" _Jiraiya thought sadly as the transformation completed. He did a sharp one-eighty and headed back towards the army. "Now we begin."

-Konoha south gate-

"_Dammit! They got through the gate. I didn't think they'd have this much of a head start on me. Or maybe running for your lives makes you faster." _Sasuke was somewhat amused as he chased the sand trio out the gate. He was gaining on them, but he was still feeling somewhat drained. But the fact that he was going to be up against three genin , although one was wounded and the other had fought just moments ago, and a puppet master didn't seem to faze him at all. It seemed to drive him on as he charged after them, seeking the glory of victory.

He was cutting through the fields when he stopped, dead in his tracks. He could not advance further. Because there was an entire ARMY advancing towards him. _"SHIT! They got away. Dammit! No way in hell I'm chasing them into that. Gotta get back and tell someone about this before I get killed." _Sasuke quickly turned on his heels and dashed back to Konoha, thinking to report this intel to Kakashi. But that would also mean reporting that he had failed his mission. He failed…but he was alive. He would take it.

Meanwhile, Temari and Kankuro had managed to get through the ranks of the advancing army, and found their way to a medic who began to close the wound on Gaara's shoulder. It was hard to do as the sand was attempting to cover up the damage. That and the fact that the medic seemed reluctant to help, meant that progress was slow.

-Konoha east-

"Alright. Here we go. You guys ready?" Jiraiya asked the toads. "Of course, Jiraiya-boy. Now focus!" Shima ordered, as they charged the incoming army, now within range.

"Katon: Dai Endan!" Jiraiya yelled as he spat out a gigantic inferno at the first group. The jutsu caught the first five, and they burned to crisps as the flaming oil soaked into their clothes, and washed all over them. The five that didn't get hit rushed him with great speed, claws and sharp tails out, all aiming to kill. Jiraiya deflected the first four, but he caught a gash on his left leg from the fifth before he struck the sound creature into the ground. "Damn! That smarts! Can't let that happen too often. There's still…a hundred and seventy left." Jiraiya said as he prepared his next jutsu. He created a giant boulder out of earth and kicked it towards the army with a senjutsu enhanced kick. The boulder took out three more ninjas before being obliterated by the rest.

Now, a line of enemies stood before him, all holding the same sign. "Fūton: Shinkūgyoku." The declared in unison as a hundred small bullet-like projectiles of wind shot towards Jiraiya. He was able to dodge most of them with the use of his senjutsu enhanced body, but a few struck him, causing cuts up and down his body.

"Dammit all to hell! For every few I take out, they manage to hit me. And ideas?" Jiraiya asked of the elder toads. "I suppose we should try to take out as many of them as soon as possible." Shima replied. "Alright. Time to bring out the big guns then." Jiraiya was grinning as he decided on his attack. He held out one hand and chakra started spinning on it. Soon, the swirling orb was formed, but it didn't stop there. He pumped in more and more sage chakra, until the sphere was at least five times wider than Jiraiya was tall. Holding the massive ball of destruction in his hand, he took an almighty leap, right into the middle of the army.

"Senpo: Chō Ōdama Rasengan!" He slammed into the ground, causing massive devastation to the army, and even more destruction to the battlefield. The attack instantly killed the ten ninjas directly hit, while the shockwave and debris travelling at deadly speeds killed another forty or so. It took a while but the giant dust cloud finally settled, revealing Jiraiya standing in the middle of a crater that could've held the entire Konoha stadium, surrounded by at least fifty corpses.

"That leaves about a hundred more to go. Shit. That was a bad idea. I'm starting to feel drained already. And that was only half the army." Jiraiya was panting, and feeling a bit wobbly on his feet. The last hit took a lot out of him, and compounded with his earlier hits, it was not looking good for the Toad Sage. "Hang in there Jiraiya-boy. You can't give up. This is for Konoha. You have no choice but to win." Fukasaku reminded him sternly. "Yea, I know I know. Ah jeez. Well…no helping it then. Let's get back to it." Jiraiya replied as he started signing for the next attack.

-Behind Suna army lines-

"What…what is going on? Where am I?" Gaara mumbled out as he came to. He was lying on a portable bed and his gourd was at the foot of the bed. Temari sat next to him while Kankuro stood at the entrance to the medic tent.

"You're safe Gaara. We're in a medic tent behind our army, you're all patched up and you should be fine soon. Luckily it was just a flesh wound." Temari explained.

"Wound? What wound? I was…wounded? How?" Gaara asked as he tried to remember what had happened. He was in a match. And he was losing. Then he had started to use that jutsu. But something had stopped him. That Uchiha. He managed to get through the sand shell. And then…

Gaara's eyes shot open as he remembered.

Then there was pain. Real pain. It…burned. And…stung? Was that the way to describe it? He didn't know. He just knew that he didn't like how it felt. It didn't feel good. And there was…blood! HIS BLOOD!

"RRRRRAAAAAHHHHHHHHH!" Gaara grabbed his head and started screaming, and writhing in agony. The movement of his shoulder caused him even more pain and caused him to shout louder. Sand started swirling out of the gourd and began to creep towards Gaara, as he continued to squirm on his bed. "KILL! I AM GOING TO KILL! THAT UCHIHA! HE HURT ME! I AM GOING TO **KILL HIM!"** Gaara screamed the last part in a different voice…his own voice was there…but there was another voice too. Kind of shrill, and reeking of evil.

Kankuro was the first to realize what was going on, as he watched from the entrance. "TEMARI! GET AWAY FROM HIM! _IT _IS COMING! WE HAVE TO LEAVE, NOW!" Kankuro yelled as he grabbed Temari and yanked her away from Gaara, while the sand continued to inch up his screaming form. His feet were covered and shaped almost like hind paws, with claws for toes. The sand was now at his waist and the beginning of a tail was starting to form at the base of Gaara's spine. They didn't stay to watch any more as they ran out of the tent towards the army once again.

-Konoha stadium-

"KAKASHI!" Sasuke yelled out as he spotted the white haired jonin, who was dispatching the last of the enemy in the stadium. Sasuke was starting to get weary from all the running. "Sasuke? What's going on?" Kakashi asked as he jumped over to where Sasuke was. "Genma told me to chase that Gaara and kill him. But they had too much of a head start on me. They retreated behind the incoming Suna army. Thought I should let you know." Sasuke was mildly irritated with himself for letting his target get away.

"You did good, Sasuke. The stadium is clear, but we have no way to get inside that barrier. Hokage-sama is fighting Orochimaru in there, and I want you to stay clear of that, Sasuke. Have I made myself clear?" Kakashi added quickly as he noticed Sasuke's reaction to Orochimaru's name. "…Hai." Sasuke eventually said. "What do you want me to do now?"

"Nothing. You don't have the strength left to be of much use against an army, plus you're still a genin. And before you get any dumb ideas, I forbid you to use the power of that curse seal. Get to the bunkers and if you feel up to it, take out any enemy ninja on the way there. DON'T try to be a hero. I mean it. Now go!" Kakashi said sharply as Sasuke opened his mouth to shoot back, promptly shutting him up.

Sasuke just scowled and took off towards the Hokage monument while Kakashi proceeded to gather the rest of the chunin and prep them to defend the gate. He was weaving his way through the stampede of citizens, and actually managed to take out two sand ninja on his way to the bunker. This left him feeling a little less irritated. But it didn't last long, as he turned a corner and caught sight of a familiar ninja with silver hair, and round framed glasses.

"Kabuto?!" Sasuke exclaimed as Kabuto finally noticed him. "Ah Sasuke-kun. I wish I could say it's nice to see you again, but this is hardly the time, don't you think?" He said and proceeded to throw his kunai straight at Sasuke. It was pure instinct alone that allowed Sasuke to dodge. "WHAT THE HELL? You a traitor or something?!" Sasuke shouted as he recovered. "Me? A traitor? Not at all. I stayed loyal to my master, Orochimaru-sama. I am simply following his orders." Kabuto said with a smug smirk on his face. "So you work for that snake bastard…then that means…I have to cut you down!" Sasuke yelled as he aimed a kunai stab right between Kabuto's eyes. The silver haired man simply ducked under it, and planted a crushing elbow into Sasuke's ribs. "You're making a mistake, Sasuke-kun. Well, several actually. For one thing, you shouldn't fight me. You don't know anything about my abilities, but I will tell you this. I have the skills to go toe to toe with Kakashi, and maybe even kill him. So you really should stop. This is pointless. You can't even touch me." Kabuto mocked as he continued to easily evade all of Sasuke's attacks.

Sasuke was starting to get frustrated. The mark on his neck was starting burn, as Kakashi's seal began to fade. In a burst of fury, Sasuke's anger finally broke through the seal and the marks began to spread over his face. Kabuto looked amused. "So the power of the seal has finally come out. I have to say, Sasuke-kun, I'm disappointed. But I guess it's to be expected since you barely have access to a quarter of the full potential." Kabuto mocked again, but this time Sasuke stopped cold. "What are you talking about, four-eyes?!" Sasuke shouted, though he couldn't help but be genuinely curious.

"Hahaha…I meant what I said, Sasuke-kun. You could be at least four times stronger with the power of the seal alone. If you join me, and Orochimaru-sama, he will train you. Put that together with your natural talents and skills, and you could increase your power a hundred fold. You want the power, don't you? You are not even close to your brother's level. Truth be told, your brother is even more dangerous than Orochimaru-sama. But…the choice is yours, Sasuke-kun. Choose wisely." Kabuto said in a serious tone, before disappearing in a burst of speed, only to knee Sasuke in the gut. "Think about it." That was all Sasuke heard before he blacked out.

-Konoha east-

"Pant…pant…pant…" Jiraiya could not even form words as he removed the kunai from the throat of the sound ninja with his good arm. His left dangled limply at his side, mangled and useless. He could feel at least five broken ribs, and one ear was damaged beyond help. Fukasaku and Shima had vanished the instant the kunai had made contact with the last of the sound army. Gashes and bruises decorated his legs from hip to feet.

"_Never…never…again…stupid…snake…son of a…bitch…this better…go down…as Konoha legend…or I will…kill that old man…myself!" _Jiraiya thought to himself as he prepared to wrap up his left arm.

-Suna army frontlines-

"Baki-sama! You're back!" One of the jonin commanders shouted as he saw Baki who had managed to give Genma the slip. However, Baki did not seem pleased, and he looked like he was in deep thought. He had a few bruises and scrapes but nothing worse. Finally, after a while, he spoke.

"All of you, listen carefully. Kazekage-sama is dead." He ignored audible gasps, and his glare silenced the army before an uproar could begin. "Yes. Our Kazekage is dead. Orochimaru betrayed us. He was the one seated next to the Hokage during the exams, and right now, those two are fighting an isolated battle. As we no longer have a kage, I am the supreme commander of this army. And as your commander, I have decided that we will continue the invasion. We still have Gaara and we have the agreement with Iwagakure. If we succeed in capturing Konoha, Iwa will lend us their military might to make sure there is no uprising. The Hokage is wounded and dying. Tsunade is not in this village, and I have not seen Jiraiya anywhere. Those three are the only ones who could've had any chance against Gaara." He paused, and waited for questions, of which there were none. "We will initiate the attack on the gate, and prevent them from mobilizing and advancing on us. Gaara will follow up when he is ready. Speaking of which…Kankuro! Report!" He shouted as Kankuro stepped up.

"Hai, Baki-sama. Gaara is undergoing the transformation as we speak. He will be ready in a matter of minutes." Kankuro reported.

"Good. Sealers! Stand by and be ready to contain the ichibi on my signal. Until Konoha surrenders, Gaara is allowed to rampage. So do NOT get in his way, unless you want to do. Am I clear?" He shouted at the army, the whole of which shouted back their affirmatives. "Good. Now…ATTACK!" And at that very instant, by pure coincidence alone, a tremor shook the earth as a massive explosion took place behind the army. Everyone's attention turned, as the waited for the dust to settle.

A few seconds later, the one-tailed Shukaku was seen, towering over the forest.

-Konoha east-

"What the hell? It can't be! That's…that's Shukaku! DAMMIT! I have to do something. Goddammit, I just fought a freaking army, now I have to fight a bijuu too?" Jiraiya complained, though he knew full well that only a sannin or a kage could fight back against a bijuu. With that he raced across the fields, hoping to cut off the ichibi before it could reach the gate.

-Konoha south gate-

Kakashi watched as the sand army approached. The defences were all prepared as per wartime protocol. The wall had been strengthened and special seals were placed on it so that you couldn't use chakra to run up the walls. The ballista and catapults were loaded and waiting on his command, as were the ninja, who would unleash various jutsu on the army. Indeed, no ninja could breach the gate.

But they weren't prepared to counter a bijuu. They had no attack large enough to push back the ichibi. Not to mention, to attack the ichibi, they'd have to wipe out the entire army first, which would leave them drained and out of ammunition.

"_We have to take out that army first, and hit the ichibi with whatever we have left…and pray for a miracle." _Kakashi decided as the army got closer and closer.

"SUPPRESSION TACTICS! ON MY COMMAND! READY! AIM! **FIRE!**" Kakashi bellowed all across the gate as the catapults fired scattershots and explosives, aiming to stop or at least slow the army's progress. _"May God help us." _Kakashi prayed silently.

All the while Jiraiya was speeding towards the Ichibi as fast as his battered legs could take him. He was almost there before he collapsed onto the ground in a heap. "Ah shit. It looks like I'm at the end of my rope. And I'm still heading to fight a bijuu. I must be out of my mind." Jiraiya let out a soft chuckle as he pondered the immediate future.

There really was no other way. No one else was strong enough. Stupid Tsunade wasn't in the village to help out. Orochi-teme is a teme, and the old man is busy. What else was he supposed to do? Let the ichibi flatten Konoha? No way! Jiraiya himself was beaten to a bloody pulp, and had enough chakra for maybe one more rasengan. Anything else would kill him.

"I have one shot. Just one rasengan…rasengan…Minato…I think…I think I'm about to go join you. I think I'm about to die…but…I'm gonna do it the way you did…I'm gonna protect Konoha…after all, it doesn't look very nice when the student gets all the glory. Hah. Listen to me. Talking to myself. And speaking of Minato, what am I gonna do about that Naruto? He has the potential to surpass everyone before him. But all I got to spend with him was an instant. Dammit. I should've had more time to train him." Jiraiya paused and took a moment to remember Naruto, and everything that might have been. Then, with a resigned sigh, he came to a decision. "Konoha has to live. Naruto will be fine. And I'm just gonna leave him a few things to help him along his way. Who knows? Maybe that gaki will find the peace that I've been looking for this whole time." He said as he proceeded to make a small note of things he wanted Naruto to have. A little extra to his will, one could say.

"Alright. That should do." He remarked as he finished up and tucked the note away in his jacket, before making his way towards the ichibi once again. He soon stepped into the clearing between Shukaku and the rest of the army. As he did, he noticed that a red headed boy was sticking out of the demon's forehead. _"That's gotta be it. That's my target right there." _He thought, swiped some blood from his wounds and summoned a toad the size of a car.

The toad fell onto it's back and lifted its feet in the air. Jiraiya planted his own feet on the toad's and was suddenly propelled towards the head of the tanuki. He was already forming rasengan in his hand as he flew up and above the beast. As he fell, he angled his body so that he could rocket towards Gaara, rasengan first. He flew down and the closer he got, the faster he flew. He was just a few feet away now.

The wall of sand flew up from the sand that composed the beast's shape. The rasengan slammed into it full force. The wall was being obliterated and sand flew everywhere. Then, seemingly out of nowhere, a tendril of sand grabbed his arm and pulled it back, reducing the force on the wall. _"SHIT! NO!" _Jiraiya thought as he gave an almighty roar and pushed back into the wall of sand with the last of his strength.

But it was too late. The rasengan dissipated and the wall was still up. Jiraiya fell to his knees as the sand wall parted and moved to either side of him, wrapping him up in a cocoon. The last sight he saw was the crazed eyes of the boy before the sand covered his head.

"Sabaku Sōsō!" The sand imploded, as the boy closed his fist.

-Konoha south gate-

The sand army had stopped their progress and it seemed as though they were planning to weaken the Leaf's arsenal until Shukaku got close enough. Kakashi's keen eye caught some movement close to the bijuu. From this distance, he couldn't tell what was going on, but it looked like someone had leapt up at the head of the demon. Kakashi was surprised that someone could get so close to the tailed beast. He deduced that whoever it was went around, or behind the army. He called over one of the Hyuga and asked them who it was. "Kakashi-senpai…that is…_was…_Jiraiya-sama. He used some odd chakra attack but it was blocked by a wall of sand. The sand then…wrapped around him…and…crushed him…" The Hyuga reported. Kakashi didn't have time to act surprised before a squad chunin appeared infront of him.

"Kakashi-taichou. Reports have come in." One of the chunin said as he knelt before Kakashi. "Proceed." Kakashi replied. "Hokage-sama is dead. He died after fighting Orochimaru, and for reasons unknown, Orochimaru has fled with the help of an aide." Kakashi was expecting the worst, and that was exactly what he got. He had to act fast, or all of Konoha could be destroyed. He thought it through as he looked for a best possible outcome, where they could save the most lives.

They had no kage, or Jiraiya-sama, and a bijuu was bearing down on them. And all of it took only an instant. Kakashi dismissed the chunin and raised the signal to stop the attack. Then, without a word, he ran down the wall, having already decided on the next and only course of action available to him. He raced across the field until he stood alone before the Sand army. He called out for the General and Baki stepped forward. Kakashi had only two words to say. And after a good long stare down…

"We surrender."

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A/N: THE END...of the invasion arc. The prologue is over. The invasion is over. People are dead (don't hate me for it). Also, I skipped the Sandaime/Orochimaru fight because it was the exact same as the canon. I'm sorry if the ending seemed a little abrupt, but I tried. Up next is a transition before the next arc begins. And remember, stay awsum!


	6. Aftermath

A/N: Yay, next chapter. Not much to say here, but enjoy reading.

Disclaimer: I dont own Naruto.

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**Aftermath**

The whirring of the fan and the ticking of the clock was the only thing that could be heard in the room. Naruto had been unhooked from the machines, as he had become stable. Now he was more or less enjoying a deep sleep. He looked peaceful and calm to Kakashi who sat in the chair next to the bed.

Then, Naruto stirred. He shuffled. His hands moved, but more importantly, his eyes fluttered open. He slowly turned his head to the man next to him. "Ka…Kakashi…sensei." Kakashi did his best to put on a smile, but it held no light. "Naruto. You're awake. How do you feel?" Naruto flexed a bit. "I'm fine really. Nothing wrong except a slight headache…" His eyes bulged as he remembered the last thing he saw before he blacked out. His fight with Neji. He became stiff

"Sensei…I lost the fight…didn't I?" Naruto asked, solemnly, all trace of his usual light heartedness gone from his eyes and voice. "Yes Naruto. You were in a coma for the past two days. Normally, a blow like that could kill a person or at least keep them unconscious for about a week. If I had to guess, I'd say the only reason your awake now is because…you heal fast." Kakashi said slowly as Naruto understood the implication being made. "Two days, huh? What did I miss?"

This was the question that Kakashi had been dreading. But Naruto had to know. Everyone else knew. "Naruto, I am about to tell you some big news, so promise me that you'll react like a true ninja." Kakashi said in a stern tone. Naruto looked confused for a moment, but he realized that his sensei was a lot more serious than he had ever seen him. So he nodded his head in acknowledgement.

"We fought a war against Sunagakure and Otogakure. And we lost, Naruto."

Naruto looked like he had been stabbed. He would've exploded but he could not find the words for it. He was stunned into silence. Kakashi slowly proceeded to recall the events of the invasion, hoping that gradual clarity might help.

It had been a day since the surrender. Konoha was lucky that Baki was only ambitious and not a tyrant. They had proceeded to force the bijuu form back into Gaara using the special seals, and a meeting of jonin soon followed.

Konoha surrendered, and effective immediately, became a colony for Sunagakure. All missions and administrations will be overlooked by Baki himself. The village will have no Hokage, and Baki will be the leading figure. The village council of elders was to be disbanded and Baki would select his own adivsors. He revealed the agreement between them and Iwagakure, which meant that the village could not be taken back by force, or coup. The Leaf ninja would also be given a day to mourn their dead.

Which included the Sandaime Hokage and Jiraiya-sama. Naruto didn't take the news well, but true to his promise, he kept silent. And in a move that no one would have ever expected from him, especially Kakashi, Naruto accepted it. There was no screaming, no determination to fight back against impossible odds, and no promises for vengeance. Just acceptance.

Kakashi was surprised, but he didn't show it. In fact, he didn't even pursue it any further. But now, the worst of it had to be said. Kakashi sighed and braced himself as well, as he prepared to tell Naruto.

"Naruto…Iruka…also died…during the fight…" Kakashi waited for a response, but once again, got nothing. Naruto showed absolutely no emotion, and Kakashi was starting to get worried. Had Naruto snapped? Had he completely lost all mental function? Damn. An eternity of silence followed as Kakashi waited for a response. Then, Naruto finally opened his mouth, and spoke lifelessly.

"Kakashi-sensei…what happens now?"

"Now…now we attend the funeral…and…go on with life…missions, training…" Kakashi spoke in a hopeless tone. "We can't fight back against Suna AND Iwa. But we CAN live. And that is why I chose to surrender. What would you do, Naruto?" Kakashi asked, and a part of him was desperate to see if the boy could find an alternative. But Naruto was not being Naruto. "I don't know sensei. What _should_ I do?"

Kakashi thought long and hard about the boy in front of him. Then, inspiration struck him. It was long shot, but it could work. "Naruto, I have an idea. I'll meet you later tonight after the funeral. You will be discharged after a final checkup, and then you should go home, and eat some ramen or something. I need to think about a few things, and then I'll come see you, ok?"

"Hai, sensei." Naruto droned again. Kakashi called in a nurse to check up on Naruto and after a quick once over, he was released.

As Naruto walked the streets of Konoha, he noticed that several buildings were damaged. Part of the wall on the west side was also quite literally gone. The villagers paid no attention to him, but he was used to that. In fact, that was how he wanted it now. He needed time to think. But right now was not the time or place.

He eventually made his way back to his apartment, where he took a shower and dressed himself in black. And what was probably for the first time in his life, he had no appetite. So he skipped eating, and left the house. He still had some time before the funeral, and he thought about what to do till then. He couldn't face his friends or even old man Teuchi at the ramen stand. It would remind him of his failure to protect the village he held so dear. So he continued to wander aimlessly and eventually found his way to the academy. His heart clenched as he remembered Iruka. He wanted to turn and run away but he couldn't make himself move. His feelings were about to burst out when he noticed that someone was sitting on his swing.

She had short indigo hair, and the palest complexion of the entire rookie nine. She didn't have her usual bulky jacket on. Instead she wore a black kimono and wooden sandals. She had her eyes closed and didn't seem to have noticed he was there.

He couldn't explain why, but he was drawn towards Hinata. His legs moved of their own accord until he stopped behind her. "You don't know how long I've waited to share that swing with someone." He spoke, startling her in the process. She whipped her head back, mentally berating herself for not noticing him walk up behind her. She almost fell off the swing in shock as she scrambled for words that she could not get out before he spoke again. "It's ok. You don't have to say anything. Also, can you please not faint this time?" Naruto asked, still clueless about why it happens. Hinata blushed slightly but nodded her head. Inside, she was a whirlwind of emotions. This was a day of mourning, but happy feelings were bubbling up inside her too. Her Naruto-kun was here with her and actually noticing her. She also felt guilt for shying away from him so much, when all he really wanted was a friend. Sadness, happiness, guilt, shame, joy, love, embarrassment and elation were warring inside her and she didn't know what to feel. Then in a move that could've caused her to faint, Naruto began pushing the swing. Her blush intensified as she felt his hands on her back. They were tough and strong but gentle at the same time, swinging her back and forth through the breeze.

"Hinata…I'm sorry…I couldn't keep my promise to you…" He spoke with so much regret and shame in his voice that it nearly shattered her heart. In light of the current situation, she had actually forgotten about it. And now he was beating himself up for it.

"Na-Naruto-kun…it's…it's ok…really. I…I'm more…more glad that…that you're…you're ok…Naruto-kun." She managed to stutter out, which caused her even more embarrassment. It wasn't a confession of love or anything, but it was more than she had ever said before. Naruto, on the other hand, was shocked. Hinata didn't seem bothered that he broke his word. And she genuinely seemed to care more that he was ok. How? Why? Why would she feel like that?

As he was trying to gather his thoughts, Hinata brought the swing to a halt and got up. She slowly turned around, and Naruto could see tears in her eyes. She couldn't explain where her actions came from, but she walked over to the young boy, and in an act that no one would believe from her, she wrapped her arms around him, and buried her face in his chest. Naruto was frozen solid by the unexpected contact, as Hinata started to cry. Maybe it was because she couldn't see his face but she managed to speak without stuttering, words that she felt with all her heart. "I really am glad that you're ok."

She slowly pulled back from Naruto, and turned to leave before he could think that she had lost her mind or something. She had not taken two steps when he called out to her. "Hinata! Wait…don't go. Come with me…come with me to the funeral…please?" She gasped audibly at this. He wanted her company. He didn't go looking for Sakura-chan. He wanted HER company instead. What was this day coming to? She steeled herself and refused to faint, and managed to stutter out a quiet yes.

The scene at the funeral was as depressing as it could get. Naruto didn't really pay attention to anything around him. Kakashi was the one who stepped up to honor the deaths of the Sandaime, Jiraiya and everyone else. When Iruka's name was mentioned, Naruto tensed visibly for an instant. But he kept his emotional mask on. And having Hinata by his side seemed to comfort him, somewhat. At least there was still someone in the village who didn't see him as a failure.

Eventually, Kakashi stepped down and placed the first flowers on the coffins. The entire village followed suit. Naruto couldn't really tell how much time had passed. But eventually, he was on his way back to his apartment. Hinata had gone home to be with her family, but Naruto didn't notice that she didn't seem to be looking forward to it that much. All in all, the events of the funeral passed as a blur.

Naruto unlocked the door and walked into his apartment where he was alone once again. This time he couldn't hold back the tears. The old man who watched over him for so long was gone. Iruka sensei, the first person to ever show him real love was dead. The pervy sage died a hero's death after fighting an army to protect Konoha. And several other ninja and civilians passed away. And for what? What was the point of all the deaths? What could anyone have possibly gained from the loss of another's life? Was it all for power? Control? Revenge? What did it matter? He couldn't make sense of the reasons. It all just seemed pointless, and now, he was alone in the world again. Just like how it all started. So he sat there and cried and cried for what seemed like hours. Until a soft knock came on his door.

He was brought back to the real world by the sudden noise. He wiped his face as best as he could and proceeded to open the door. It was Hinata. "Hinata? What are you doing here? Shouldn't you be with your family?" At first, Naruto's words made it sound like he didn't want Hinata's company. The girl almost broke down, then and there before Naruto invited her in. It took a while, but she realized that he didn't mean what she thought he meant. "Ye…yea. I should…should be. But…but…" She managed to stammer out.

"But what, Hinata?" Naruto was curious now, and a small part of him was glad to have something else to think about. Hinata started to sob softly, and tears began to run down her face. "I'm sorry…I…I shouldn't have…shouldn't have come here…I'll go now." She got up quickly and made to leave, before Naruto grabbed her wrist and stopped her. "No. Don't go, Hinata." He said in a pleading voice so full of pain and loneliness that it would have killed her to refuse him. She turned around but was shocked that he was standing closer than she thought. Pearl eyes locked onto crystal blues. The rest of the world seemed to vanish to her as she got lost in the endless ocean that was Naruto's eyes. She forgot to breathe. She forgot her own name.

But Naruto, being Naruto, didn't seem to notice. He just thought Hinata was being weird again, and offered her a seat before she fainted. "Hinata. Tell me what's going on." He asked, trying to be gentle. He felt some inexplicable need to comfort her. "I…I went…home…and talked to…father. He was…he was…disappointed…again. I failed…the exams…and he said…he said he was…a…ashamed of me." At this, her tears burst out again.

Naruto was appalled. This girl actually had a family. Something he'd wanted his entire life, but never had. Family was supposed to be loving and supportive, right? But Hinata's family treated her like trash. He couldn't understand one bit of it. He was at a loss for words, and didn't know what the appropriate way to react would be. He was still frozen when Hinata continued, between sobs. "Naruto-kun…my father…he…he made Hanabi…the heir. And he…he disowned me…and demanded that I…that I…that I be moved to the branch house!" She couldn't continue anymore. She cried and cried some more. Whatever Naruto felt an instant ago was nothing compared to how he felt now. She was to be moved to the branch house. That meant that she would get that seal. The seal that could kill her any time. No…no…no! No! No! NO! That was unacceptable.

"Hinata…I…I don't know what to say…I don't know what to do." Naruto was the one that was sputtering now. He couldn't explain why he cared so much. He didn't before. But it was gut-wrenching to watch Hinata cry. He didn't know what to do. Then he remembered that earlier that day, Hinata had hugged him. It comforted him. Maybe it would work both ways. He felt it was worth a shot as he sat next to her on the couch and slowly put one arm around her. The effect was instantaneous. Hinata stopped crying, not because she was comforted, but because she was surprised more than anything else. Lavender eyes shot up and stared into sapphire ones. Naruto did his best and offered her a warm comforting smile. He didn't speak, but he hoped that she could sense that he was trying to be there for her. That was all she could take. She flung her arms around his neck and buried herself in him. Naruto was caught by surprise, but he recovered enough to wrap his other arm around her back. He stroked her back, hoping to comfort her. He couldn't understand, but something about the gestures he was doing felt…right.

Eventually, she calmed down enough to talk again. "Tha…Thank you…Naruto-kun." Though her heart screamed at her not to do it, she pulled away from him. "Any time, Hinata-chan." Naruto replied. He was glad he was able to do something for her. She blushed as he added the suffix to her name. He had never done that before, and he didn't even seem to have noticed. She was also embarrassed as she was sure she looked like a mess from all the crying. "Um…Naruto-kun. May I…use the bathroom?" She didn't stammer as much as she used to, and a small part of her felt proud of that.

"Yea…it's right over there." Naruto pointed to the door, as Hinata stood up and went to make herself look more presentable. This gave him a moment to think about things. True, several people he loved had died. Especially Iruka-sensei, but what could he do? He couldn't bring back the dead. What would Iruka want him to do?

He didn't have much time to pursue his thoughts before another knock came from his door. He opened the door to find Kakashi waiting for him, still in his funeral clothes. "Yo, Naruto. How are you holding up?" Kakashi asked, still concerned about the lack of emotion he had seen at the hospital. "I'm feeling better, Kakashi-sensei." Naruto replied honestly. It was true. He was feeling better, but he couldn't quite understand why. It just felt better. He even put on a small smile at his thoughts. This didn't go unnoticed by Kakashi. He didn't pursue it any further, and chose to be thankful for whatever it was that cheered Naruto up. "That's good to hear, Naruto. I'm happy for you. However, you know why I'm here. And I think it's best if we get it over with as soon as possible."

Naruto knew that Kakashi had something he wanted to discuss, so he led him inside. Kakashi didn't seem to notice that someone else was in the house, and it seemed as though Naruto himself had forgotten that he had another guest. They went into his small apartment and occupied the living room, where Kakashi took the armchair and started organizing his thoughts, thinking of the best way to tell Naruto everything. Naruto was anxious, but still remained quiet. After a while, Kakashi took a long breath and spoke.

"Naruto. Konoha is no longer a free village. We do not have freedom here. Starting tomorrow, we serve the Sand. We even have to wear the Suna headbands. I know you don't like it, but that's how it is. And honestly, no self-respecting ninja of this village is going to go along with it willingly either. We all want our freedom back, but there's no way we can stand up against the Suna AND Iwa armies, especially without a kage. So for now, we'll continue to live. But I have a plan that will give us our freedom back. It'll take a while. Years, in fact. But it will work. I have faith in this plan." Kakashi spoke with conviction, and there was a hint in his voice that he still had more surprises to reveal. Naruto was getting more and more curious with every word, but he continued to reign in his childish energy. Once Kakashi was sure that he had Naruto's complete attention, he spoke again.

"That plan…is YOU, Naruto." Kakashi let the words hang there for a while, waiting to see what Naruto would make of the revelation. The boy in question had frozen stiff, his mind trying to make sense of what his sensei had said. "I…I don't understand. What do you mean, sensei?" Naruto finally mumbled out, still unsure of what was going on.

"Naruto. The only way we can win our village back is through war, but we attack now, we will all be killed by the Iwa army, not to mention that Gaara. Which is why I came to the conclusion that YOU, and you alone, have the strength to save this village." Kakashi continued.

"NO! You have it all wrong, sensei. I can't save this village. I couldn't even beat Neji! Even after I promised Hinata I would. Now you want to place the burden of the entire village on ME? And what happens if I fail this time? Everyone in the village DIES!" Naruto screamed at Kakashi.

"I had a feeling you'd say that. Listen to me Naruto. Your fight with Neji, that was a fluke. It could've gone either way on a coin toss. He had skill and you had strength and determination. This time, skill won out. Maybe next time, it'll be strength and determination that wins. And those are things that you have more than everyone in this entire village put together. You lost a fight Naruto. Big deal. I've lost half the challenges I take part in with Gai. I know it's not the same, and it's not supposed to be, either. That was just an example. My point is, Naruto, one lost match doesn't take away any of your strength. You're still the same person, physically as before that match. However, if you've lost your belief, and your Will of Fire, then this village is doomed forever." Kakashi ended gravely.

Naruto was reeling. He couldn't make sense of anything. Kakashi was asking him to save the village single handedly. He couldn't stand up to one lousy Hyuga genin, and now Kakashi wants him to wage war against not one, but TWO freaking armies? What the hell was he thinking? There's no freaking way that Naruto could believe any of this. But…but Kakashi was still here. Was he still serious? Naruto had to know.

"Kakashi-sensei…are you…being serious?" Naruto asked, still not believing a word Kakashi said. "Yes Naruto, I'm serious. Do you think I'd joke around after a war, when the fate of Konoha is at stake? I know it sounds like I've asked a lot from you, and in truth, I have. But I have my reasons, Naruto." Kakashi replied evenly. "Oh yea? What reasons?" Naruto shot back. What reason would anyone have to possibly believe that one kid could face down two armies?

Images of the Yondaime flashed through Kakashi's mind. But now was not the time to tell him that truth. Or rather, the whole truth. "Naruto. During the third ninja world war, the Yondaime Hokage single handedly took out several battalions of enemies. It may sound ridiculous right now, but you have the potential to surpass the greatest Hokage we've ever had." If Naruto was shocked before, he looked like he'd been hit by a boulder now. Kakashi was expecting him to surpass the Yondaime Hokage? He really HAS lost his mind. Naruto just stared at Kakashi, expecting him to bust out laughing at any minute, but Kakashi was being deadly serious. "You gotta be kidding me, sensei. Me? The failure, surpass the Yondaime? The biggest loser, surpass the greatest ninja this village has ever known? Please tell me this is some sick joke." Naruto was starting to get angry at Kakashi's games.

"ENOUGH! Naruto, I've said it before, and I'm not going to repeat myself. The village of Konoha is at stake, and only YOU can save us. I'm not asking you to go assassinate every Suna nin in this village and then flatten Iwagakure. Now understand that every word I've said, was said with nothing but complete belief in you. I said you have potential, Naruto. A seemingly limitless amount. But it is raw, and untapped. My plan is for you to get stronger so that you can use your strength to save Konoha. And it will take years." Kakashi was being deadly serious now. Any doubts that Naruto had were vanishing into thin air as his sensei glared at him.

"You…you really mean it, sensei?" Naruto asked, still unsure. Kakashi sighed, and composed himself. "Yes, Naruto, I do. You can do this. You have strength. More than any hidden village or any kage anywhere. You just have to find it." Kakashi tried to drill his point home, and some of it seemed to have gotten through. Just a little more. "Believe in yourself again, Naruto. I do."

Naruto stared at his clenched fists as he thought about everything that had been said to him. He had so many questions that needed answering. "Kakashi-sensei. What is it about me that gives you so much belief? What is this potential that you're talking about?" Once again, Kakashi found himself remembering his old sensei. He stopped himself from revealing the information to Naruto. He needed to divert the boy's attention. "It's you Naruto. You have this thing about you where you lift up spirits and give people hope and something to believe in. But if you want a more solid answer, I believe that the Yondaime did what he did because he believed in you too. He must've believed that you would one day be able to control that power within you. So I choose to believe in his beliefs." Kakashi watched as Naruto's hand almost instinctively moved to his stomach where the Kyuubi was sealed. "At least try, Naruto. For Konoha." Kakashi was almost pleading now.

That did it for Naruto. Those words made his decision. He would never back down, never run away, and never turn his back on someone who needed him. And right now, the whole village needed him to become stronger. He loved this village, and he had been dreaming of the day he could serve the village as Hokage. If Kakashi-sensei believed that he could be the village's savior then, maybe he could do it. Maybe he could finally have the respect of the entire village. Yeah. His dream would come true then…but…

"How do I do it, sensei?" Naruto asked. This was the plan. This was what Kakashi had been planning the whole day. "You become stronger, Naruto. You will train and learn to control your powers and increase them further beyond what any ninja has ever dreamed off. You will make yourself strong enough to surpass the Yondaime. He could take on an entire squadron. You will take on an entire army. That is how strong you must become. But you can't do it here." Kakashi ended ominously.

Naruto was wary of the change in tone at the end. "What do you mean, sensei?"

"The Hidden Leaf Village has been compromised. You are our only hope for salvation. You have to get stronger. But you can't do it here. You will not be able to train adequately here. Your training must lie beyond our walls." Kakashi explained, and he could see realization settling in Naruto's features.

"Konoha is at its most dire hour. And to save it, you're going to have to abandon it. Naruto. You must leave the Hidden Leaf Village."

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A/N: There you go. Hope you enjoyed that. Reviews with constructive criticism are always appreciated, and I read all of them, and I sometimes like to use ideas that you guys give. Also, I wonder if ending every chapter in a sort of cliffhanger style is enjoyable for you guys or not. It just seems to end that way naturally every time ._. Oh well. Till next time, stay awsum!


	7. Escape

A/N: Here it is. Chapter 7. I hope you guys enjoy this arc. Oh and from this point on, the story will mainly focus on Naruto and Hinata. If you notice inconsistencies and OOCness, bear with me. If there are plot holes, I'll try to fill them up as best as I can without diverting from my actual story. Credits to my girlfriend for helping me iron out a few details and inconsistencies in this chapter. Thank you dear 3 :3

Anyway, enjoy reading.

Disclaimer: I still don't own Naruto

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**Escape**

"You want me to…abandon…Konoha?" Naruto was dumbstruck by the revelation. His own sensei wanted him to leave? His home, his friends, his team, and everyone else? He was supposed to leave them behind to be oppressed by the Suna nin? While he lived freely, until he could come save them? How many will die before then? Surely with Gaara around, more people will die.

"Naruto, listen to me. What is it that you want to do the most?" Kakashi asked sternly. Naruto was about to scream at Kakashi before he actually thought about the question. The answer came to him almost instantly. "To protect everyone that is important to me." He replied, meaning every word he said. "And to do that, you have to get stronger. There's no way that I can train you properly under this new regime. So leave, Naruto. Leave and train somewhere else, and become stronger, then come back for us. We'll be waiting." Kakashi said quickly, before Naruto could argue further. "But what about Sakura and Sasuke and everyone else?" Naruto asked with concern. "Nobody is going to get hurt, Naruto. I promise I'll look after the team while you're gone. Sunagakure have control of our military might, and they're going to use us, not kill us off. We are too important to them for that to happen. But if they try to kill us, we will defend ourselves. We will live, Naruto. You have to trust me on this, as I am trusting the fate of this village to you." Kakashi was trying his best to convince Naruto, and it looked like it was working. "It's still so much to take in." Naruto was confused, but he wasn't refusing. So Kakashi decided to try another angle. "Naruto, if you choose to accept this, you can save Konoha. And believe it or not there's a lot you can learn from other villages. Jiraiya-sama travelled and trained in all the great villages. That's how he knows so much. And guess what. He left some of that knowledge to you."

Naruto's eyes shot open. The Legendary Sannin, with his decades of knowledge left some of it for him? What could it be? "What is it, sensei?" Naruto was a little excited now. "A jutsu scroll it seems. Jiraiya-sama was a master of seals, and he left this one scroll especially for you. It will only reveal itself to your blood and chakra. Understand how it works?" Kakashi could see the glint in Naruto's eyes. That boy lived to train. "Yea. Wait, how do you know that?" Naruto asked suspiciously. "It's in this letter that he left for you." Kakashi reached into his pocket and handed Naruto a folded up piece of paper.

"_To Naruto,_

_This is kinda weird since I hardly know you, kid. But I'm actually leaving a lot behind for you. I don't even know why. But I just get this feeling about you, kid. You're meant for great things. Your destiny is one that could change the world. And for some reason, you remind me of me as a kid._

_Anyway, I don't have much time. The first thing I'm leaving behind for you is some advice. First off, don't ever underestimate the power of good intel. I made my life gathering information for Konoha, and that is one of the reasons I lived so long. Few ninjas actually make it to the age of forty. Next, I want you to train, and train hard. Train like a beast. Like several beasts. You have more potential in you than anyone I've ever known, even the Yondaime Hokage, whom I personally trained. Don't let it get to your head, idiot. I know this because I've seen your potential from the short time I've spent with you. Utilize it. Master it._

_Now, I'm guessing you already know that I left you behind a jutsu scroll, and if you don't, now you do. That jutsu is one of the Yondaime's original jutsu. It is insanely powerful, and believe me kid, it'll take you a long time to get it down. But don't give up, because I know you can do this. Also, this jutsu should not be revealed to any ninja of any other village. Hell, don't even show it to anyone in Konoha, except for people you would trust with your life. This jutsu is a weapon that, if used properly, could shift the tide in battle. I would know, because I've used it myself. Additionally, that jutsu is incomplete, according to the Yondaime. I don't know what the next step is, so you'll have to figure it out on your own. So do not open the scroll unless you're absolutely ready and certain, got that?_

_And finally, I'm leaving you behind with a mission. This mission is unofficial, and one of my own making. You see kid, I believe in a thing called true peace. A peace where everyone truly understands one another and can live in harmony. War cannot create this peace. This peace cannot be forced on people. In my lifetime, I couldn't find the answer. So now, I'm leaving it up to you to find true peace. It won't be easy, kid. I spent well over forty years, but I got nothing. So don't despair immediately. Keep at it, and if you fail, pass it on to the next generation._

_Alright. That's all I guess. If you're reading this, you probably know I'm already dead. Damn shame. I think I could've trained you to be a fine ninja. But I guess you'll have to do it on your own. So…_

_Take care, kid."_

Naruto was a hurricane of emotions. Pride, joy, excitement, and humor warred with confusion, sadness, fear, and loneliness. He was proud that he was compared to the Yondaime. He was happy and excited that a Sannin had entrusted him with so much, including a powerful jutsu. A small part of him was amused as he tried to picture a younger Jiraiya. But he was sad the man had died. He was lonely because of it too. He was afraid of letting down the great man. He had been asked to carry so much. But he was still just one kid. And how could HE, the container of a bijuu, find any kind of peace, let alone true peace? All the while, Kakashi was watching the emotions flicker across Naruto's face. Eventually, he settled on one.

Determination.

"I'll do it, sensei." Naruto said, with resolve hardened to steel. Kakashi observed Naruto for a moment, looking for and hint of doubt in the boy. There were none. "Alright. Good to hear that Naruto. Now, you're going to need some help, getting out. It just so happens, that tomorrow night, I'm on guard duty. That should give you enough time to pack up and say your goodbyes to anyone you'd want to. But for now, get some sleep. This has been a hell of a day." Kakashi said as he got up to leave. Naruto followed him to the door, and let his sensei out before locking the door behind him. He returned to the couch and slumped back onto it with a deep breath.

It had indeed, been one helluva day. He had been so lost in his thoughts that he almost fell over in shock when the bathroom door swung open. He managed to catch himself quick enough to see that Hinata had stepped out of the bathroom. With all that had happened with his sensei, he actually forgot that she was there. But concern replaced all confusion as he noticed that she was crying. He picked himself up and rushed over to her as she tried to make her way to the door. "Hinata-chan. Wait! What's wrong? Did something happen? Are you hurt?" He asked as he grabbed her shoulders, and looked her over, wondering if she fell over in the bathroom. If she did, he didn't hear it.

But Hinata didn't want to talk. She just wanted to leave. "Naruto-kun. Please…please let me go…" She pleaded between sobs. Though her tone caused Naruto some strange heartache, he refused to let her go. "No way Hinata-chan. I'm not letting you leave here until you're happy again. Now tell me what's wrong. Did something happen?" Naruto almost demanded of her. He didn't seem to hear the edge in his voice. But Hinata did.

"Yes…I suppose you could say something happened."

Hinata was staring at the floor through her tears, not wanting to look at Naruto. She hurt so badly, and though she didn't mean to, she was taking it all out on him. "I came here to talk to you about my family problems because you always give me hope…my own father disowned me…I always knew that you wouldn't hurt me…But I was wrong. You DID hurt me!" Hinata was crying harder than she had before. And her despair and hurt had seemingly erased her stutter. "I don't understand, Hinata-chan. What did I do to hurt you?" Naruto was genuinely confused by the girl in front of her.

"You said you're going to leave! You're going to leave me! I came to you because I needed you, and the next few years are going to be hell in Konoha, and my family offers me nothing…YOU are the person that gives me hope, and strength, and happiness. And now you're going to take all of that away from me…" Hinata was almost accusing Naruto now. This was nothing like the Hinata Naruto thought he knew. Why was she reacting so strongly to him leaving? He would come back, right?

"But…Hinata-chan. I'm going to come back. And you don't need me to give you strength. You're a damn strong kunoichi as it is. Surely you don't need a failure like me around." Naruto was a mix of guilt and confusion, as he remembered the broken promise.

"You're wrong! You're not a failure! You are the strongest ninja in this entire village. And you're wrong about me too. I'm not strong. I'm weak. Whatever strength I have, I've drawn from you. And now, you're taking all of that away!" Hinata shot back at him sharply.

"I don't get it Hinata-chan. Why is me leaving such a big deal to you?!" Naruto was on the verge of yelling now. He was getting frustrated because of his confusion.

"Because I need you!" Hinata said softly, as she threw her arms around him. She couldn't admit that she loved him just yet.

"Yea I got that, but why?" Naruto was taken aback by sudden action. Hinata hadn't so much as twitched.

"Because you are the only one who gives me strength and real happiness. Even when we were just starting the academy. I admired you. All the villagers treated you badly, or ignored you, and I didn't understand why. I still don't. But I don't care. I never cared about any of that. Because whenever someone treated you badly, you got straight back up and shouted out your dream for the whole world to hear. You would become Hokage. That's what you always said. You didn't know this, but I was always watching you from afar. I was shy and I didn't know how to approach you. I was also weak. And I was shunned by the Hyuga for it. My childhood was miserable after my mother passed away. But you. You had no one and nothing. And I had everything. And yet, you were a million times better than me. You were a million times stronger than me. And that's what I saw in you from the beginning. Endless determination, an ocean of strength and willpower stronger than the light of a thousand stars. But I had none of that. So I stayed in the shadows. Over time, my admiration for you only grew. But I still couldn't tell you." Hinata's confession left Naruto reeling.

She…had watched him? For so long? And…and he…he didn't even know? He always thought she was weird because she never spoke to him much. And her color and all the fainting made it look like she was sick all the time. At least that's what he thought. But it was all because she looked up tohim? From the beginning, even when he was a failure. She never insulted him, or hit him, or treated him like dirt. Truthfully, she didn't do anything to him at all, until recently, when she called him a proud failure. And what did he have to show for it? He called her weird. The guilt and other emotions hit him with the force of an avalanche. And now, he was the one crying.

"I…I'm so sorry…Hinata-chan…I never knew…if I had known…maybe…maybe I could've done something…for you." Now it was Hinata's turn to be sad. He was blaming himself for not knowing. "No Naruto-kun. You couldn't have known, because I or anyone else never told you. Don't blame yourself. It's my fault for not approaching you sooner. So please don't-" She was cut off when a pair of arms wrapped around her, and blond head fell to her shoulder. His body was shaking with his sobs. The sudden contact brought back her blush as she stood frozen. How she had dreamed of this. How she had wanted to hold him. To be held by him. To love him. To be close to him. She was so happy she could've fainted then and there. But she wouldn't ruin this. Instead, she raised her arms and wrapped them around his back, and pulled herself into his embrace further. This was her dream. "Don't blame yourself, Naruto-kun." She whispered.

They just stood there for a while, locked in each other's arms. He continued to cry while she was trying to comfort him. A part of her was amused at the turn of events. She originally came over, seeking comfort from him. Eventually, and maybe all too soon for Hinata's liking, he composed himself and pulled back, but only so he could look into her eyes. He never noticed before but they were very pretty. As well as the silky bangs that framed her cute face. _"Cute? Where'd that come from? But I guess it's true. Hinata-chan is kinda cute." _He pondered as he got lost in her eyes. She was blushing from his stare but she couldn't look away. Finally, he managed to speak.

"Hinata-chan. I'm sorry for ignoring your feelings, and not being more observant. Na-ah, don't interrupt. I have to say this. I'm sorry for a lot of things. I'm sorry that I haven't spent more time with you, or gone places with you. But I'm mostly sorry if my actions involving Sakura-chan, hurt your feelings. But things are different now. I don't think that she, or anyone else for that matter have ever felt the same way about me as you do. That makes special to me. You're a very precious person to me now, and I promise that I'll do my best to make sure I live up to your expectations, k?" That was all he managed to ask, before she leaped onto him and knocked him over in a completely uncharacteristic move. "YES! Yes yes yes yes, Naruto-kun." She shouted happily over his shoulder and into the floorboards, oblivious to the position they were now in.

Naruto chuckled. "That's great, Hinata-chan. And you know, for it to work, we're going to have to stay close together…but isn't this a little _too _close?" He teased her. He could definitely feel the heat from her face as she blushed furiously and scrambled to get off of him. He laughed and picked himself up and dusted himself off, before they both moved to the couch. Naruto was happy, but his mood became serious very quickly.

"Hinata-chan. I still have to leave tomorrow. I have to go along with Kakashi-sensei's plan. But now…I want to stay with you too. I don't know what to do." Naruto said in a sad tone, which left Hinata feeling guilty about the situation she had put him in. "I'm sorry, Naruto-kun. I shouldn't have put you in this situation. I'll…I'll wait for you…to come back." She said in an even sadder tone. She would have to spend several years as a branch family member before she could ever see him again. What if he started to love another girl on his travels? The thought put a little crack in Hinata's heart. Naruto was, in turn, even more heartbroken by her expression. He wanted to be with her…but he had to leave too. It wasn't fair! If only…if only there was a way to…do…both…

His face lit up as inspiration hit him. "Hinata-chan. You should come with me!" He said excitedly, stunning her into silence. "Wh…what?" She stuttered out. "Yea. Come with me, Hinata-chan. I don't want you to stay here because they'll put you in the branch house. And if you stay here, I'll spend too much time thinking about you and I won't get any training done." He spoke with the enthusiasm of a five year old kid. Hinata was thinking more slowly though. _"He wants me to abandon my home and my family and run off with him?" _She blushed at the romance of such a thought. But this was more than that. _"I can't just leave my family…right? I mean, they're my family. Aren't they? Father…what does…what does a father do? They're supposed to love and nurture and protect, right? But…mine…doesn't. Mother is not with us anymore. And Hanabi…we might as well be strangers…do I truly have a family to leave behind? No…no…I don't. I have a clan. Not a family. There is no love for me in that mansion. And Naruto-kun…Naruto-kun __could grow to__ love me. So…this is right for me, isn't it? I'll be with someone who will love me and protect me. But…"_

"Naruto-kun…what if I can't help your training? What if I hold you back and you can't get strong enough to save village? That would be so selfish of me. My happiness could take away the freedom of Konoha." She couldn't continue her train of thought before she was interrupted. "That's stupid, Hinata-chan. You won't hold me back because you're strong. In fact, if you really tried, you could beat anyone you wanted. You could probably beat me senseless and send me back to the hospital." Naruto laughed as he rubbed the back of his head with his hand. Old habits. But he became serious again. "We'll train together, Hinata-chan. We'll get stronger together. I have my weaknesses and you have yours. But you have strengths as well. You're really smart, and one of the best scouts in this entire village. You're not going to hold me back. You'll only make me stronger. And happier. So what do you say, Hinata-chan? Wanna come with me?" He added a smile to the last part, which melted Hinata's heart. He still believed in her. He still gave her strength. And he said she'll give him strength and happiness too.

She couldn't help herself anymore. She threw herself at him again, and this time, he caught her. She buried her face in his shoulder and finally whispered in his ear. "Yes."

-Next morning-

Dawn broke brightly next morning as Naruto picked himself up off the couch where he slept last night. After Hinata agreed to go with him, they managed to sneak onto the Hyuga estate, which was surprisingly simple, given the fact that they all had a near three sixty degree field of vision. Nevertheless, Hinata knew all the nooks and crannies of the compound better than anyone, as she spend many hours of her childhood hiding from her father after training sessions and all. So they managed to get in, get some of Hinata's gear, and a little emergency money, just in case, and get out in a matter of minutes without raising any alarm.

They had then returned to Naruto's apartment, where after much discussion, and embarrassment on Hinata's part, Naruto finally convinced her to take his bed, while he slept on the couch. It didn't bother him since he was a heavy sleeper. And Hinata slept surprisingly well too. Perhaps that was because no matter which way she turned on his bed, she was surrounded by his scent.

Eventually, they were both out of bed, and after showering (separately!) and ramen for breakfast because that was all Naruto had in his house, the two eventually left the house. They walked side by side which didn't seem like a big deal to Naruto, but it was a dream come true for Hinata. She'd sneak a sideways glance at him now and then and blush happily at how things had changed. True, the changes in Konoha were anything but happy, but she felt uplifted by the changes in her own life. She was walking with Naruto, and he seemed to be enjoying it. She was glad that some of his sadness had disappeared, and she did her best to make small talk with him as they walked. Some people were shocked to see the Hyuga heiress, or perhaps _former_ heiress, with the demon boy. Some shot them nasty glares, but luckily no one made a scene.

Eventually, their morning walk took them to the top of the Hokage monument. Naruto stepped forward and stood over the Kages and looked over the village. The western wall still lay in ruins. He could make out craters where Gamahiro and the snakes had fought. All in all, Konoha looked the same, apart from the damages. The place wasn't on fire, and a very large part of it was still standing. Most of the Suna army had returned to Sunagakure. Gaara was to stay in the Leaf Village as a deterrent for any kind of coup.

Naruto felt angry. This was his home. And he was about to abandon it and leave it in the hands of his enemies. He didn't even notice his hands ball into fists. But Hinata's observant eyes saw it all. She walked up to him slowly, emboldened by the fact that they were now closer than ever. She felt his pain through her love for him. And she couldn't stand it. Naruto-kun was not meant to be unhappy, and she would not let that happen as long as she was with him.

She slipped a hand onto his fist and held on gently. The effect was instantaneous, as she saw Naruto relax. His hand opened to allow hers to get a more comfortable grip on him. He felt comforted by the simple gesture. Anger and despair were replaced with hope and determination. He turned to her and locked eyes with her. Though she blushed because of old habits, she saw all the emotions in his eyes. He couldn't find the words to let them all out, so she spoke for him instead. "I know. I understand. We'll come back, Naruto-kun. We'll come back, and take back our home." She blushed ever more at her own words. _"Our home." _She and Naruto actually shared something that felt so intimate and special to her. Naruto was smiling when she snapped out of her slight daze. "Hinata-chan. You're amazing. You understand me better than anyone and I don't even have to say anything. And you always know what to do to make me feel better. How do you do that?" Hinata was pleased and embarrassed at the same time because of his words of admiration. But she was more comfortable around him now, and she could talk freely. "Years of observation." She said in a joking tone, which caused the both of them to burst out laughing.

Naruto was the first to stop, surprisingly. And he had an odd look on his face as if he was scrutinizing Hinata. She thought she had something on her face, because of the way he looked at her. "What is it, Naruto-kun?" She asked a little nervously. Naruto was still staring at her when he answered. "That was the first time I heard you laugh, Hinata-chan. It's cute. You should laugh more." He finished with a grin, as if he were a child who had just found a new toy. Hinata was pleased that he didn't find her weird anymore, and blushed again. Hearing compliments from him was going to take some getting used to.

They spent the rest of the day walking through the village, with Naruto going to every length to make Hinata laugh more and more. She couldn't help it. His antics were downright ridiculous. And though he didn't notice, several villagers and ninjas got a few chuckles from him too. Some things never change it seems. And one of those things was Naruto. He would always be a bundle of happy energy that could cheer people up whether they wanted it or not. In a way, he was giving the village a parting gift. A bit more happiness before he was gone.

Eventually, the sun set on what had been a surprisingly happy day for the young couple. They had eaten at Ichiraku's for lunch and now were on their way back to the apartment. Hinata helped Naruto pack up and clean up the place before they cleaned themselves up and prepared to leave.

They left the apartment at midnight, never to return there until the village was theirs once again. They used Hinata's byakugan to make their way to Kakashi without being seen. Eventually, they found him patrolling a section near the southern part of the wall.

"Naruto. Good you're here. But…why is Hinata here? And why does she have a backpack?" Kakashi asked, feeling a little tense. "It's ok sensei. She's coming with me." Naruto explained to Kakashi who still looked skeptical. "I hope you know what you're doing Naruto. We don't have much time, so I'm going to trust your judgment. I'm patrolling this section tonight, so hurry up and run. Once you get past the border, you're on your own." Kakashi said in a hurried tone. Then, the moment caught up with them.

This would be the last time they would see each other for years. A silence followed as the gravity of the situation fell upon them. Kakashi, perhaps the strongest jonin in Konoha was entrusting the fate of the village to a raw genin. "This is it, Naruto. I believe in you, as your sensei, and as a fellow ninja of Konoha. You know what you have to do. Make me proud." Kakashi said in an almost parental tone. Perhaps that was what struck Naruto the most. "I will, Kakashi-sensei. And Hinata-chan will too." Naruto added proudly. "Oh, but sensei. Won't we be labelled as missing nin? And what if they send ANBU after us?" Naruto suddenly realized that that was a very possible scenario. "Don't worry about it. Don't take this the wrong way, but the village has more important things to do than to chase two genin. There's a lot of rebuilding and restructuring to be done, so I don't think Baki will start a manhunt for you two. Get what I'm saying?" Kakashi finished and the two kids nodded their understanding.

"Good, now go. Take care of each other, you two. And Hinata, make sure he doesn't get into trouble, and try to feed him something other than ramen. This idiot could use a salad once in a while." Kakashi spoke in a lighthearted tone, which lightened the mood, and still embarrassed Hinata. "H-Hai, sensei." She stammered again.

With one last look back at the village, they took off.

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A/N: There you go. Naruto and Hinata have left the village. Where will they go? What will they do? Will they ever come back? Who knows? (I do). Stay tuned to find out. And stay awsum!


	8. Return to the Wave

A/N: Hey guys. I recently realized that I get really nervous before I read the reviews, but so far, all of them, save for one, has been positive feedback and constructive criticism, which I really appreciate. So I just wanted to insert a little thanks here. So thanks, guys. I really appreciate it. Oh and as of this chapter, I have 50 followers, so yay! :3 Hope you guys enjoy reading this story. Anyway, ON WITH THE STORY!

Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto.

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**Return to the Wave**

"Naruto-kun. Where exactly are we going?" Hinata asked as they continued down the path. They had been travelling for half a day now. They were making good progress since they managed to avoid everyone with the aid of the byakugan. They'd run most of the way, and had only stopped after four hours for the first break, and stopped six hours later for the second one. At this speed, they would make it to their destination in about three days. This was all well and good, but the destination was still unknown to Hinata.

"Well…I don't have many friends outside of Konoha, Hinata-chan. And I definitely don't know any ninja from any other hidden village. But I do know a small family of people that I can trust. I met them when I was out on my first C-rank mission. They live in a small town in the Land of Waves, so that's where we're going." Naruto added brightly. He was looking forward to seeing Inari and old man Tazuna again. This calmed Hinata's nerves a bit. Naruto-kun thought they were good people, so it must be true. However, she was not looking forward to travelling there. She knew geography well enough to know that the Land of Waves was separated from the Land of Fire by the sea. And she did not like the idea of getting on a boat.

"Um…Naruto-kun. Are we going to…travel by boat?" Hinata asked, already feeling a little sick. Much to her surprise, Naruto just laughed and gave her a sly wink, which she thought was adorable but it made her all the more nervous at the same time. She tried her best to get him to spill the beans, but eventually gave up when she realized that Naruto could beat anyone when it came to a contest of wills. She continued to pout about it, which Naruto found cute, much to his own surprise as well.

Afternoon turned to dusk very quickly. The two decided to set up camp early as they had not slept a wink the night before. Soon after, they managed to find a decent sized clearing, once again thanks to Hinata. If Naruto was glad to have her with him before, now he was almost ecstatic. Hinata been more help to him than he ever imagined possible. He quickly set up the tent while she worked on starting the fire. They would only use the fire to heat up some canned food and rations. Leaving the fire burning was far too risky, and they could be seen by anyone. Even animals could create a disturbance they could ill afford.

In an hour or so, they had finished eating. Naruto snuffed out the fire while Hinata disposed of the trash left behind. After that, they just flopped onto the grass to stretch their legs out, and enjoy a moment of peace. They were lying side by side, and Hinata was trying very hard to stop herself from touching Naruto. She missed hugging him. It felt so nice. But this was nice too. Just being with Naruto-kun, watching the stars. Time seemed frozen for the serenity of the moment.

But time also seemed to race forward. All too soon for Hinata's liking, Naruto sat up. "I'll take the first watch, Hinata-chan. You've been using the byakugan all day, so you need to rest up more than I do. I haven't really done much of anything today." Naruto offered. "But, Naruto-kun. I can still use the byakugan. And besides, how can you cover as much area as I can? What if we get attacked?" Hinata was trying not to worry. She would be a better sentry than Naruto. However, Naruto had other ideas. He put up his hands into a familiar sign. "Like this. Kage bunshin no jutsu!"

Twenty clones popped into existence and spread out in a circle. Soon, they had all vanished into the trees, and the two were alone again. "This way, if anyone approaches us, a clone might be enough to take them down. If they get dispelled, I'll get the memory instantly, and we can get out of here. And also, I'll get to stay nearby, Hinata-chan." Naruto ended with his usual grin. Of course Naruto-kun would come up with a solution. She may be a better sentry, but Naruto-kun makes up for it by being _several _sentries. He was a lot smarter than he had ever let on before. Hinata could not argue with the idea. And he would stay close to her as well.

So Naruto took the first shift, making himself comfortable by leaning on the tree closest to the tent. It was still early in the night, but he would stay as long as he could. That way, Hinata-chan could get more rest, since they would have to rely on her byakugan during the day. He decided that it might be useful to make plans for the near future.

First of all, they'd need to get to old man Tazuna's place. Stay there for a couple of days, maybe. But that town had no ninjas. And the Wave Country didn't have a hidden village either. Naruto needed a ninja village to do his ninja training. Obviously, Konoha and Suna were out of the question. And they could not go to Iwagakure because of the current situation, either. That just left Kumogakure and Kirigakure. He'd have to go to one of those villages, or maybe even both. But he couldn't just decide this on his own. He'd have to discuss it with Hinata-chan first.

"_Hinata-chan…she gave up so much just to come with me. She had a family and a home where she would be loved…she _had _all those things…and her father just decided to take all that away from her! I think I've lost all respect for that old goat. Who does he think he is, treating Hinata-chan like that? She's an amazing ninja and…and…and a great person! We'll show him. We'll both train and come back to Konoha as the strongest ninja that old fart has ever seen! Then Hinata-chan can kick his butt and become the leader of the Hyuga clan, and I'll be Hokage! We'll be the most powerful duo in the whole village!" _Naruto's thoughts left him anxious to train, but he knew better than that.

After about an hour or so after midnight, he decided to wake up Hinata-chan. He walked into the tent and let out a soft gasp at what he saw. Hinata-chan was curled up in the sleeping, with her hair falling over her face, and even in such a state, it still looked…perfect. What actually took Naruto's breath away was the fact that she seemed to be smiling. _"Hinata-chan looks so pretty, even when she's asleep. Why didn't I ever notice her before? She's so nice to me all the time. And…and…what am I thinking!? NO! She's asleep. And I'm not some kinda perv, goddammit!" _He decided that he needed to wake her up before things got even weirder. He knelt beside her, and gently shook her by the shoulders. Her eyes fluttered open and she mumbled out his name in her sleep. Then she grabbed his hand, and tucked under her head in a half asleep state. Naruto found her actions funny, and decided he could have some fun as well. He wiggled his fingers under her neck, and true to his expectations, she was ticklish. She twitched and shook a little before her eyes flew open, and she took in the situation around her.

She didn't know what to feel. She knew she had Naruto-kuns hand under her head. She knew she was holding it there. She could feel him tickling her, and they were all alone in the dark little tent. In a rush of blood, she stopped at embarrassment yet again. "Na-Naruto-kun! That's not very nice!" She complained as she shot up and backed away from him. She pouted at him and he just laughed. "I didn't do anything. You were the one who grabbed my hand." Naruto teased her innocently. She just huffed and left the tent before he could tease her some more. She went out and settled in under the same tree as Naruto had. She could still hear him chuckling as he got himself into the sleeping bag. She dropped her face into her knees. _"Oh why me?!" _She groaned internally before activating her byagkugan.

This, of course, meant that she'd see through the walls of the tent and Naruto-kuns sleeping figure. Immediately, she longed to be back in the tent, but she knew that she couldn't do that. But a girl can dream, can't she. She decided to spend the time doing something productive, by trying to extend the range of her byakugan. The byakugan comes with a natural range that doesn't require much chakra to see. However, if one were to see even further, they'd have to pump a bit more chakra to their eyes, which required some more effort. Plus, a sudden increase in chakra to the eyes could damage the byakugan permanently. So, she increased the chakra flow just a little bit, to extend her range a couple of yards in every direction. It was hard. Like trying to hold a heavy object over your head. But if she managed to hold on till the feeling became natural, then her natural range would increase by those couple of yards, permanently. In truth, the range of her byakugan was only limited by her chakra capacity and training. It was possible to develop the byakugan to see about ten or more miles in every direction. Hinata's however was limited to a two mile radius for now.

The rest of the night passed uneventfully, and soon, the light of dawn appeared over the horizon. Hinata decided to wake Naruto up so they could get a good breakfast before beginning their trek again. When she entered the tent and saw Naruto sleeping, she had an idea. It was totally uncharacteristic of her. In fact, it was something only Naruto would do. Maybe a little what goes around, comes around would teach him not to to tease her. With a devious little grin, she sneaked into the tent, careful not to wake him. She sat down beside his head, and pinched his nose close. In a few seconds, he sputtered and shot up, nearly bringing the entire tent crashing down on top of the two of them, while Hinata laughed her head off. "That's what you get, Naruto-kun." She stuck out her tongue at him in between giggles. Naruto couldn't help but join in the laughter as they packed up the tent and ate a canned breakfast.

Soon they were on their way again. In fact, thanks to Hinata's byakugan, they managed the whole three day journey without any trouble at all. They kept to the same routine, always scouting ahead before moving during the day, and Naruto taking the first shift at night.

By mid-afternoon on the third day, Hinata could see the coast line with her byakugan. It was then that Naruto said that she was not to use her byakugan again, until they came to the water. Hinata asked why, but he refused to reveal any more than that. So, after about an hour of trekking, they reached the water.

"Naruto-kun. Are we crossing this on a…boat? I…I get…seasick." Hinata said in a worried tone, but Naruto wasn't paying attention. He was scanning the horizon, looking for something. When he spotted it, he turned to Hinata with a grin and excitement in his eyes. "Nope. We're gonna walk across." He said, leaving Hinata even more confused. "Naruto-kun…I can do the water walking exercise, but this is an entire ocean we're looking at. You can't be serious." Hinata was worried that Naruto-kun wanted to get in over his head or something. "No, silly! Come on. Follow me and try to keep up!" He was already running away as he shouted the words back at a thoroughly confused Hinata. "Na-Naruto-kun! Wait!" She yelled as she took off after him. They had walked the entire journey, because they wanted to save their strength in case of an emergency. For Naruto-kun to run off like that, it must be something important.

After about five minutes of running, Hinata could see the bridge towering over the water line. _"A bridge? When did that get there? It must be pretty new, because I don't remember seeing it on any of the maps. Is this what Naruto-kun meant by walking? That's a relief." _They continued to run towards the bridge, and a few minutes later they made it. Naruto was already standing on the point where the bridge joined the land. "Hinata-chan! Hurry up! You have to see this!" He shouted with the excitement of a three year old.

"See…what…Naruto…kun?" Hinata managed between pants when she finally caught up to him. He was pointing to the top of the first tower. There, all the way at the top cross-support, was a giant plaque, with giant letters engraved into it. "Oh!" Hinata let out a sharp gasp as her eyes focused on the wordings. Now she understood why he didn't want her to see this so soon.

"The Great Naruto Bridge"

"Oh my! Naruto-kun. What is this? Is this one of your pranks?" Hinata was amazed by what she was seeing. A part of her wondered how Naruto had managed to name a bridge after himself, while another part was wondering if it was genjutsu of some sort. But most of her was still amazed. "Awwn cmon, Hinata-chan. If I did this for a prank, I would've told everyone about it. This is exactly what it looks like. This is The Great Naruto Bridge. It was named after me by old man Tazuna. I'm still not sure why, so you'll have to ask him when you meet him. Now come on. We're burning daylight!" And with that, he took off down the bridge again, leaving a stunned Hinata in his laughing wake.

After running across the entire bridge, they finally set foot in the Land of Waves. "We're here, Hinata-chan!" Naruto called over his shoulder as he waited for her to catch up. "That's…great…Naruto…kun…but…please…no more…running!" She nearly collapsed when she caught up to him. This made Naruto laugh again. Having Hinata-chan around was more fun than he had ever thought. But he agreed to her terms and walked the rest of the way. "I can't wait to see those guys again. It'll be great!" Hinata knew that Naruto was having a hard time not running off at full speed. She felt a little bad, but also happy that he'd made the effort to control himself for her sake.

Soon, they found their way to a modest looking home and Naruto stepped up to knock on the door. He was answered by a young woman with dark blue hair with dark eyes. She was surprised for a moment before breaking out into a huge smile. "Well look who it is. Welcome back, Naruto-kun." She greeted him cheerfully. "Tehe. Great to see you again, Tsunami-san. Where are Inari and your dad?" Naruto replied just as enthusiastically, as Tsunami showed them both inside. "They're out shopping right now. Oh Naruto-kun, who is this pretty little girl?" She asked, meaning to tease him, but Naruto was oblivious. "This is Hinata-chan. She's an amazing ninja from my class, and a really nice person." Naruto introduced her to Tsunami as he sat down on the couch. "Well is that so? If Naruto-kun says it, then it must be true. Nice to meet you, Hinata-chan. I'm Tsunami." Tsunami introduced herself to a blushing Hinata. Naruto may not have noticed the undertone in Tsunami's voice, but Hinata did. "Hai. Nice to meet you too." Hinata replied in almost a whisper.

"Tsunami-san. I don't mean to be a bother, but do you have some food? We've been running for the past couple of hours now and we haven't had anything since breakfast." Naruto's pleading request was immediately followed by a roar from his belly. "Hahahaha! I'm surprised you survived so long on one breakfast, Naruto-kun. Come on then you two. Let's eat some lunch then. And don't you even think about helping me, Hinata-chan. You're a guest here." The two kids followed Tsunami to the dining room and took their places at the table. "Oh, by the way Naruto-kun. Where's your sensei? Or for that matter, why isn't _any_ adult with you?" Tsunami asked from the kitchen. "Kakashi-sensei didn't come. It's just me and Hinata. It's a long story, and I promise I'll explain it when Inari and Tazuna-san come back" Naruto replied. He knew he'd have to tell them what happened, but he didn't feel like going over it too many times. Tsunami took his word for it, and served up some lunch which Naruto ate hungrily, making a mess all over himself. Hinata, due to her upbringing, finished hers in a more dignified fashion.

After they were done eating, Tsunami decided the Hinata would share a room with her, and Naruto would bunk with Inari. No one had any objections to the arrangements, so they were settled in pretty quickly. Tsunami had more questions, but she figured that she could wait till her father and her son came back. This meant that Naruto and Hinata had some free time on their hands, so they decided to just relax for a moment. They got up on to the roof by going out Inari's window, and reminiscent of a certain lazy genius that they knew, they just watched the clouds roll by. They didn't speak much, but it was still a comfortable silence.

About half an hour had passed like that, before Naruto heard a familiar voice. Two voices actually. A small kid talking loudly, and an elderly man with a booming voice who was laughing that kid's antics. He sat up just in time to see Inari and Tazuna walk through the front gate. He put on his usual grin and yelled. "YO! INARIIIII!" Inari looked around to see who had called him from seemingly out of nowhere. It took him a moment before he noticed the orange clad boy sitting outside his own window. His surprised expression changed to one of excitement, as Tazuna laughed and waved at Naruto and Hinata.

Happy greetings ensued as Tazuna welcomed them to his home, and Inari asked if Hinata was Naruto's girlfriend. They both refused vigorously after blushing bright red, much to everyone's humor. But Naruto knew that this was only temporary, and that he would have to get into rather unpleasant topics soon. And sure enough, it was Tsunami who brought it up again. "Well Naruto-kun. I said I'd wait till they got home, so now will you tell us why you're here without any adult supervision?"

Naruto took a breath and shared a look with Hinata before getting into the story. He recalled everything that Kakashi-sensei had told him. It felt odd that he had been somewhat asleep through the whole thing. If you count being in a coma as asleep, that is. He recalled the death of the Sandaime who prevented Orochimaru from destroying the village, and the death Jiraiya who defeated an entire army to protect Konoha. He had to take a moment to get his emotions in check, but he was interrupted by Tazuna. "I don't understand, Naruto. If your village was taken by force, why can't you take it back by force?" And much to Naruto's relief and surprise, it was Hinata who answered.

"Because we're not strong enough. While it may be true that Konoha has the largest number of ninja, Iwagakure also have a similar number. If we were to take back Konoha, we would suffer even more casualties in the process. Suna have a tailed beast under their control, and there is no one in the village strong enough to oppose such an enemy. Even if we sent our whole army at it, we could lose multiple ninja in the process, and it would put the villagers in danger too. And then we'd also have to fight against the Sunagakure army, many of whom specialize in poison. Even if we manage to win both those fights, and have roughly half our army left, Iwagakure and the Tsuchikage would attack Konoha in its weakened state. Konoha does not have a kage, and we would not have the full strength of our army at our disposal. It would end in a crushing defeat, and all of Konoha would be wiped out." Hinata ended in a flat tone. Everyone in the room was silent for a while, as they processed what they had been told.

Again, it was Tsunami who spoke up. "If they have the chance to wipe you out, why haven't they done it already?" Hinata looked to Naruto who just shrugged at her. He wasn't much of a thinker. So Hinata tried her best to come up with an explanation. "As far as we know, Baki was the Commander General of the invading Suna army. They were betrayed by Orochimaru who had killed the Kazekage. Baki decided that they would take Konoha and use our military strength as their own and he would be commanding them. Kind of like a Hokage but without the title. That's why people like Kakashi-sensei haven't been executed. They're more useful to him alive, rather than dead."

Naruto was a bit surprised that Hinata could talk so evenly for so long. He had never heard her talk like that before. She would always stutter, and wouldn't say much. But now she was speaking like an experienced diplomat from a noble clan.

"Alright. Well, hopefully, there won't be any more meaningless deaths." Tazuna said softly, and a moment of silence followed again. "That still doesn't explain why you two are here though." Inari was the one who spoke up, after having been respectfully silent the whole time.

Naruto would be the one to explain this time. Hinata knew that this part was important to him. "Because we're going to save the village. There's no one in all of Konoha that can stand up to the forces keeping them down. Except me." Naruto let that hang there for a while before he continued. "I'm gonna become strong enough to beat their tailed beast AND their army AND the Iwa army as well. But that kinda power doesn't come overnight. So we left the village, because I can't get any proper training there. We will go to either Kirigakure or Kumogakure and seek refuge there, and train there until I'm…_we're _strong enough to save Konoha." He ended in a determined tone. The adults were staring at him in shock. What they saw was a twelve year old boy, aiming to fight a monster and two armies. However…

"You can do it, Naruto-nee. I believe in you. You can do anything if you set your heart to it, right?" Inari was the one who spoke. His words lifted the weight off the whole room. Naruto had given an entire town the strength to save itself from tyranny. He had done that in a mere couple of weeks. Imagine what he could do when given several years. Tazuna's confused expression changed into a hearty laugh. "Hahaha. That's right. How could I forget what you can do, kid? I named that bridge after you for a reason, after all. Let me tell you now, I believe in you too." Their encouragement helped to further steel Naruto's resolve. Hinata could clearly see the potential brimming within him. Tsunami also added a kind nod to their words.

"Thanks guys. That means more to me than you can know. But if it's all the same to you, I'd like to hit the sack. All that running and eating. I'm surprised I'm not conked out right now." He added with a laugh, which the whole house joined in. "Of course, Naruto-kun. Inari, Naruto-kun will be sleeping in your room while he's here. I know that you'll have no problem with that, so why don't you boys go talk until Naruto-kun falls asleep?" Tsunami said to Inari who was already beaming. "Sure. As long as he doesn't snore!" The young boy said mischievously, which led to Naruto chasing him all the way to their now shared bedroom. They shared stories and play fought until Naruto finally fell asleep. Soon after, Inari tucked himself into bed too.

Dawn broke brightly the next day, and Naruto got up early. He hadn't trained at all since his match with Neji, and he wanted to get some basic training done for an hour or so. He did the tree climbing exercise for a while and did some body-training before returning for a shower before breakfast. Soon after breakfast, Naruto decided to walk around the town to see what had changed since he had last been here, and Hinata accompanied him.

The town did look like it was prospering. There were business here that he hadn't seen before, and bigger and nicer looking houses. There were several more buildings still under construction, and even a park area was being built. It did indeed look like the bridge had brought better times to the town. But the most noticeable change was that the townspeople did not seem sad or gloomy. Instead, they greeted each other brightly and shared laughs, and general happiness could be seen all around. Naruto was glad that he was able to help the people find their freedom and happiness again. A few people even recognized him and said hi. One business owner even asked him to stop by later because he wanted to give Naruto a gift.

Soon, they had reached the other edge of town. That was when Naruto remembered that there was a special place nearby that he wanted to go back to. Without a word, he walked off into the forest. Hinata was confused but followed him still. They went deeper and deeper into the woods until Hinata couldn't hold in her curiosity anymore. "Naruto-kun. Where are we going?" She asked. "To a special place. I'll tell you when we get there." He answered brightly.

A few more minutes and they stepped into a beautiful clearing. They were surrounded by trees, and there were flowers of every color and shape scattered throughout the clearing. The sun shined brightly into the clearing and the sweet aroma of the flowers dominated the air. It was indeed a special place.

"This place _is _very pretty, Naruto-kun. But why is it special?" Hinata asked again.

"This is the place where I met a boy named Haku on my mission here. He was Zabuza's apprentice I suppose. When we fought, I nearly died because he was so strong. He was strong because he fought with his true strength. When we met here before the fight, he told me where true strength comes from. It doesn't come from fighting to make yourself stronger, or to prove that your enemy is weaker. True strength comes from fighting to protect the people that are precious to you. Zabuza was his precious person. Though they would seem like sensei and student, they were more like father and son in my opinion. Haku fought me to protect Zabuza, and that's why he was so strong. Get what I mean? Naruto explained as Hinata listened to every word he was saying. She knew why this place was special now. This was the place where he found his path to true strength. She could understand. She would fight to her last breath to protect the people she cared about as well. Anyone would be capable of amazing things in that type of situation. "Yea…I do, Naruto-kun. So tell me. If that is your true strength, who are your precious people?" She asked.

"My precious people are the people of Konoha. Everyone in that village is important to me. Even the people who didn't treat me nicely when I was younger. Even the bullies. If someone tried to harm the people of Konoha, I'd defend them with my life." Naruto's words sounded almost like an oath. A sworn oath to protect the people of Konoha. Hinata knew that he would never go back on his word. That was his Nindo. And it was hers as well. From now on, she'd fight to protect the people dear to her. And she would grow stronger too. She would grow strong enough to protect the village of Konoha alongside Naruto-kun instead of being protected by him. "Then I'll do the same, Naruto-kun." She declared with a smile. They didn't say much after that. The two just sat there and enjoyed the serenity of the environment. But there was one thing nagging at the back of Hinata's mind.

"Naruto-kun…where are we going to go after this?" She asked, slightly nervously.

"Well…we realistically have only two options. Kiri and Kumo. I've heard that the Raikage is insanely strong, so I was thinking that we could go there. If he's strong, then he's bound to have strong ninja with him, right? Maybe we can get one of them to train us." He offered to Hinata. "But…Naruto-kun…the thing is…" She felt bad about her opinion. He made a good point that training under someone strong would make them stronger too. But she had a problem with Kumogakure. "Yea? What is it Hinata-chan?" Naruto asked, feeling a little concerned after seeing Hinata's downcast expression. She looked almost…afraid.

"The thing is…when I was little…Kumo ninja tried to…to…to kidnap me…for my byakugan. They failed though…but the events…cost uncle Hizashi his life…that's why Neji hates the main branch so much. In order to prevent a war, Uncle Hizashi's life was forfeit…so…I don't…want to go there. Can we please go to Kirigakure instead?" She was almost crying now as she remembered the events of her attempted kidnapping.

"Of course Hinata-chan. I'm sorry for even suggesting it now. I didn't know about it. It's settled then. We'll go to Kirigakure, ok, Hinata-chan?" He asked with a smile. She felt her heart lift and she smiled back and nodded in agreement.

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A/N: The end. Of that chapter. I wanna say thanks again, and just wanted to point out that I've gotten over 6000 which is already mind-boggling. I hope this chapter explains the background of the story a bit more. As always guys, leave a review if you liked it, and stay awsum!

Oh and my exams start on Sunday, so I'll have less time to write. Hope you guys can be patient for a while.


	9. To the Mist Village

A/N: Next chapter! Woohoo! Sorry for the delay. I've made zero progress on my writing in the past two days. Exams and all. It's a good thing I had this prepared in advance. Hopefully, I'll get more time to write during the rest of the week. Little typo in the last chapter where Inari referred to Naruto as "Naruto-nee". It should've been "Naruto-nii." Thanks Rose Tiger. ON WITH THE SHOW!

P.s. Removed the chapter to correct another nee/nii typo. sorry guys

Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto... Do I really have to say this on every chapter? No? Yes? God dammit...

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**To the Mist Village**

"We should go back, Hinata-chan. It's getting late and we'll need to rest properly and get some supplies if we're going to travel to the Mist Village." Naruto suggested, to which Hinata agreed. The two made their way back into town and after another quick look-around, they went back to Tazuna's place.

Tsunami was already setting up dinner when they arrived. She asked them where they'd been, and they told her that they'd been walking around and seeing the town. Naruto told her that he was happy to see that the town was doing so well in such a short time. She replied by telling him that in a way, it was all thanks to him.

Nothing much happened during and after dinner. They talked and laughed and shared stories and went to bed. Naruto and Inari spent some more time catching up before they fell asleep.

When morning came, Naruto was the first to wake up. He took a quick shower and instead of training, he spent his free time watching the sunrise. It was peaceful and beautiful. And it was a bright light that shined out of the darkness. Right now, Konoha was trapped in a dark time. So he would be the dawn that brings back the light. Maybe then, the people of Konoha will acknowledge him. He spend a few more minutes fantasizing about the future when Inari joined him. "Whatcha thinking about, Naruto-nii?" The young boy asked.

"Nothing. Just thinking about my friends back home. I feel kinda bad for abandoning them like that." Naruto replied, a bit of guilt creeping into his voice. "You didn't abandon them, Naruto-nii. You're going to save them. By being here, you _are_ working on saving them, right? If you were back there, you said that you'd be oppressed or something. Kinda like we were when Gato was around. We couldn't do anything until someone from the outside helped us. So now, you're gonna do it again." Inari ended brightly, and Naruto couldn't help but feel uplifted by his words. He grinned before bursting out into a hearty laugh. "When did you get so smart, Inari? When I met you, you were just a sniveling brat with no courage." Naruto teased. "This is _my _roof. Just because you're bigger than me doesn't mean I won't kick you off!" Inari shot right back. The two continued their back and forth until Tsunami called them for breakfast.

Breakfast went by without much talking. It was only after they were done that Tazuna spoke up. "So. What are you kids gonna do now?" It was a short question, but Naruto knew that the answer would not be so.

"We're gonna go to the Hidden Mist Village and hopefully stay there and train for a couple of years until we're both strong enough. So we're gonna spend today getting supplies mostly. And if we have time, we'll put in a little training at the end of the day. Not much though. And if we're all set at the end of the day, we'll leave tomorrow. If not, we could always stay another day. If that's alright with you, of course." The grown-ups still couldn't get used to the idea that the young boy was acting so maturely. He had been given a burden, a huge burden to carry at the mere age of twelve. He was given the fate of his entire village, which, as far as Tazuna knew, was the biggest of all the Hidden Villages. Perhaps losing one's home brings this out in a boy. "Do you know how to get there?" Tazuna inquired.

"Honestly, no. Do you?" Naruto asked, rubbing the back of his head, embarrassed grin on his face. Tazuna burst out laughing. "You had me going there for a moment, boy. Making me think you've matured and all. It's nice to see that some parts of the little idiot I first met are still there. Bahahaha! Yes, I know how to get there. Give me a day or two to make the arrangements, alright?" The old man offered kindly. "Alright! Thanks, Tazuna-san. How much will we owe you?" Naruto was already reaching into his pocket, when Tazuna bopped him on the head. "Yeap, you're still an idiot. Do you honestly think that anyone in this town will charge you for anything on your first visit back? Naruto, everyone in this town owes you a huge debt. And they're willing to pay it off no matter how long it takes. You gave us something priceless. You gave us freedom. We could try for a lifetime, but we might never be able to pay that off. Hah! A whole town is indebted to a twelve year old idiot. What has the world come to?! Don't worry about a thing, kid. I'll take care of it." The old man got up and left, still chuckling to himself.

Naruto on the other hand, was shocked. He didn't have to pay? Back in Konoha, some business wouldn't even offer him service, and if they did, they'd charge him extra because they knew his secret. Here, people were giving him stuff for free? It didn't make sense. Hinata was sitting next to him the entire time. She could clearly see the surprise on his face, and the confusion as he tried to make sense of what had just happened. She found it a little amusing and decided to help him along. "Naruto-kun. When you do nice things for other people, they'll do nice things for you too. It's not that hard to believe, considering what you've done for the people of this town." This seemed to help, as her words brought out his usual cheeky grin. But now, there was an excited glint in his eyes. "Really?! I've never experienced anything like this before? People are gonna give me free stuff? That's so cool! Now I wanna go see who else wants to give me stuff! Let's go Hinata-chan!" He was practically bouncing in his seat, and his antics caused the rest of them to laugh.

"Now, Naruto-kun. That's not very nice. You should know better than that." Hinata was almost scolding him now. It was getting easier and easier to talk to him all the time. It just came so naturally. And it seemed that her words got through to him. "Oh alright. But I still wanna go talk to some of the people here. And that guy asked us to stop by yesterday, remember? We should go see him. Wanna come along, Inari?" He asked the young boy, who grinned out a big yes.

Soon, they were out and about, going into as many shops as possible. Everyone greeted Naruto with a smile. Little kids ran up to him with flowers and hugs. Adults gave him thankful pats on the shoulder and shook his hands. If he ever offered to pay for something, most of them refused to take his money. Sometimes, he'd insist, and they end up talking about half of the actual price.

Eventually, they found a weapons shop, and realized that they needed to stock up on weapons too. They walked into the store, to jingle of bells, and were surprised to find the same guy who had asked them to stop by the day before. "Oh. Hey. It's you. From yesterday. Ah, sorry, but I don't know your name." Naruto said, feeling slightly embarrassed. The man just laughed. "Hahaha. No worries, Naruto. Everyone here knows _your _name, by the way. My name's Takagawa Kenji. Just call me Kenji."

"Nice to meet you, Kenji-san. I'm Hyuga Hinata." Hinata introduced herself politely. "Oh. A Hyuga. We don't get nobility around here very much. Shall I address you as Hyuga-sama?" Kenji was just teasing the girl, and she blushed a bit. "N-No. Just Hinata is fine, Kenji-san." She was a little annoyed with herself that she was stuttering again. When was it going to stop?!

"Alright alright. That's that. So what did you ask me to come here for, Kenji?" Naruto asked impatiently, and Kenji found this extremely funny. He could understand, because it was like Naruto had been invited to a toy shop by the owner. One would only assume that it was for something special. Only these toys could kill a man. "Yea, you're just like Tazuna said you'd be. I asked you to come here because I wanted to give you something. But seeing as she's with you too, I guess I'll make it two sets." He went into the back room and returned later with two modest sized boxes. "Senbon needles." He said as he opened the top box, revealing twenty needles arranged on velvet covered padding. He picked up two needles and gave one each to the ninja. "If you haven't guessed already, I'm a blacksmith. I made these myself. Each set contains two puncture-proof packs which can hold up to a hundred needles each. So you can carry two hundred needles into battle each time. Though I can't imagine a situation where you'd need that many. If carrying around all those needles is gonna be too much of a hassle, I've included a couple of blank sealing scrolls. You can use them to store all the extra needles you want. I don't know how to do sealing techniques but I imagine you could find someone along the way who could help you. And finally, once you remove the top cushion like this, the rest of the box holds more senbon. There's nine hundred and eighty needles in there, so if you can count, this is my premium one thousand needle set. Give it a try you two." He finished by pointing to a target board on one of the walls.

Naruto threw his first. It hit a couple of inches from the center. He was a little disappointed. Hinata shot hers next. The hit surprised everyone. "Bulls-eye. Well done, Hinata-chan. You're a natural at this." Kenji complimented Hinata who was beaming with pride. She found something she was good at, naturally. This was a first for her, and she looked at Naruto excitedly. He too was excited by the possibilities. "This is fantastic, Kenji-san. Thank you very much." Naruto actually bowed to the blacksmith this time. "Hey now, no need for that. If it weren't for you, I wouldn't even have this store. Thank _you _Naruto." Kenji replied earnestly. "Alright. We'll take them. But we need more stuff. Shuriken and kunai. And I'm paying for it properly this time, and I'm not taking no for an answer!" He pointed a finger sharply at Kenji, who laughed but relented.

Soon they were stocked up on weapons, and left the store, packs full of supplies. They realized that they'd need bigger backpacks and maybe more weapon packs if they were gonna carry around the senbon boxes that they just got. So, Inari took them to the nearest department store where they bought bigger traveler's packs (with the usual Naruto-discount, of course) and decided to head back home because it was almost lunch time.

Tazuna-san did not return home for lunch, but Tsunami assured them that it was usual, and he probably still making the arrangements for their journey. After lunch, they decided to just relax for a while.

"Naruto-kun. Since, we're going to the Mist Village, have you thought about how you plan on getting in?" Hinata asked. Naruto took a moment before he replied. "Honestly, I thought we could just walk in, meet the Mizukage and become Mist ninjas." He finished with a shrug. Hinata was not convinced that this would work. She knew a bit about inter-village politics. "Naruto-kun. We can't do that. It's not going to be that simple. We can't just demand a meeting with the Mizukage. And it won't be easy to become ninjas of another village. They might think we're spies and arrest us, even if we are just kids." Naruto frowned, mostly because he knew Hinata was right. It wasn't going to be that simple. "Well. What do you think we should do, Hinata-chan. I'm out of ideas." Naruto said dejectedly. "I think we should offer the Mizukage something of value. If I become a mist ninja, they could make use of my byakugan. But it might not be enough. We need something that's extremely valuable to them to earn their trust." Hinata offered. It wasn't concrete, but it was something.

And it seemed to have given Naruto an idea. His eyes flashed, but then they darkened again, as if he were contemplating something unpleasant. He sat up abruptly, and motioned for Hinata to follow him. She was confused about where this was leading, but she followed anyway.

After walking through the forest for a bit, Naruto stopped. He had stopped in front of two graves. One had a giant sword embedded into the ground for a gravestone. "Hinata-chan. Meet Haku. The one who showed me the meaning of true strength. He gave his life to protect Zabuza-san." Naruto gestured to the grave next to the sword, and Hinata understood now. In her mind, she gave her silent thanks and prayers to Haku and Zabuza. "Naruto-kun. Why are we here?" She asked, feeling a bit nervous. Naruto wasn't paying attention though. He was staring intently at Zabuza's grave.

"Zabuza-san. I feel horrible for what I am about to do. I hope you'll understand. I need your help to save Konoha. I need your help to get into the Mist village, so that I can become strong, like you and Haku. I know that you left the village because you didn't like how things were run. But things have changed now. Maybe you would've returned to your village if you were still with us. But you're gone now. But I think I know how you felt at the end. You would've liked to have gone home, wouldn't you? I'm sorry that I can't take you there. But with your permission, I'd like to return your sword to its home. If you can't be there, would you at least be willing to let your sword return home?" He paused as if waiting for an actual answer. Then, he reached out and grabbed the sword by the handle and pulled it out of the dirt, while Hinata watched. "Thank you, Zabuza-san. I promise to take good care of it." He bowed to the grave before walking away from the graves to another clearing nearby.

"Naruto-kun. Why is that sword so important?" Hinata inquired. "Zabuza-san was one of the Seven Swordsmen of the Mist. So, this sword is one of the Seven Swords. It is one of the most important treasures of the Mist Village. So, maybe we can offer this to the Mizukage." Naruto explained. "I see. But how are you going to get that to the Mizukage, Naruto-kun. Neither of us knows how to seal weapons in scrolls, and if we just try to carry that into the village, the guards might just take it from us by force, thinking we stole it or something." Hinata didn't like that idea, because if the Mist village did not accept them, they'd be forced to go to the Cloud village. "I'd already thought about that, actually. Hold on a sec." He said as he began to run through the signs. He sliced his thumb on the blade of the sword before slamming his palm onto the ground. In a puff of smoke, a little orange toad appeared. "Hey, Gamakichi. I need a small favor. Can you hold on to this sword for a while? It's really valuable and I don't know any other place to store it safely. I'm gonna be travelling for a while and I can't really carry that around without attracting attention. I'll summon you again when I want the sword back, in about a week or two." Naruto explained to Gamakichi.

"Alright. It's good to see you again, Naruto. Keep in touch, ok?" Gamakichi said as he hopped onto the flat of the blade and vanished in a puff of smoke along with the sword. Naruto turned back to Hinata, still looking guilty because he felt like he had just robbed a grave. Hinata could see the pain in his eyes, and she tried to comfort him. "It's ok, Naruto-kun. I'm sure that Zabuza-san and Haku-san would've wanted this for you." She said in a soft and soothing voice. Naruto took a breath and looked at her. "Yea. I guess so. Come on. Let's go back." He said and led the way back to Tazuna's place, once again.

By the time they arrived back at the house, it was only four in the evening. Still plenty of time to do a little bit of training. Naruto decided that they would just do a few chakra control exercises, and nothing else that would physically exhausting. If things worked out, they'd be on the road starting tomorrow. They began their training out in the back yard, where they attempted the tree climbing exercise. Naruto could do it perfectly well now, though it took Hinata a couple of falls before she managed to get it down. Still, it was a lot faster than Naruto had managed when he had first attempted it. Once Hinata was able to make it to the top of the tree and hang upside down on a branch, they decided to switch. But it was Hinata who decided this time.

"Naruto-kun. I want to practice my byakugan. All Hyuga members are supposed to be able to see tenketsu with their byakugan, but I can't. So I'd like to practice that instead. Is that alright?" She asked somewhat nervously. She wasn't used to having people do what she wanted. Mostly because she never spoke up about what she wanted. "Of course Hinata-chan. But I don't know how to help you with that." Naruto replied, rubbing the back of his head. "Hmm. Well, I'll need a target to focus on. I'm not saying that I want you to just sit in front of me and do nothing… Oh! I know. You can try one of the Hyuga's chakra control exercises. We use it as a stepping stone towards Jyuken training… Here. Take this leaf and try to float it on your hand using chakra. It's tricky though. Too little, and it won't float. Too much, and it'll shoot away, or get shredded." Hinata explained as she picked up a small dry leaf from the ground.

They sat cross-legged in front of each other. Hinata activated her byakugan, while Naruto began to focus intently on the leaf. At first, the leaf didn't even wobble, so Naruto tried harder. Still nothing. So he gave it another push, and the leaf shot up into the sky, and blew away with the wind. "Ahh! You were right, Hinata-chan. It's a lot harder than it looks. But I don't understand how this helps you." Naruto exclaimed as he picked up another leaf. "Well, I'm trying to focus just on your hands for now. It's easier to see tenketsu when they're in use. It's so that when the opponent is channeling chakra to a certain part of their body, we can quickly counter it by closing up those tenketsu and cancelling the chakra flow. Let's try again, Naruto-kun." She explained and Naruto turned his focus back onto the leaf, this time increasing the pushes by even smaller amounts. It was harder for him, considering the enormous reserve of chakra he had.

About a dozen flying leaves later, he finally did it. The leaf was hovering above his hand, though slightly jerking up and down. He let out a triumphant grin. "I did, Hinata-chan! I did it!" He shouted in excitement. Hinata was snapped out of her focus but she was happy for him. "That's fantastic, Naruto-kun. You know, you'd be first non-Hyuga to complete that exercise, so I'm proud of you. Now you have to hold that leaf there for me for just a little while, please." She responded kindly to which Naruto nodded and tried to steady the leaf, but it was still twitching a bit.

Hinata had returned her focus to his hand. She could see the blue glow of chakra in his hand, but it was all just one fuzzy light. Like when a picture is taken out of focus. She calmed her breathing and slowed her chakra flow so that it would become easier to focus. Soon, the glow began to diffuse into fuzzy lines. And several bright spots seemed to form on the lines, as they grew thinner and thinner. She was close. Just a bit more…and… "Yes! I did it, Naruto-kun! I did it! I can clearly see the entire chakra network in your hand!" She exclaimed excitedly.

"Woah! You're amazing, Hinata-chan! But I think we should call it a day. We can train more when we get to the Mist village." Naruto dropped the leaf and the two got up to go back inside. They felt a little tired from all the chakra manipulation that they had attempted. It was a bit tiring until the control comes more naturally, like training your muscles for heavy lifting or something. It's hard at first, but the more you try, the more comfortable it becomes. So they returned, feeling drained but uplifted. Progress had been made and it was a good feeling.

By the time they'd freshened up, dinner was served. Training always left a ninja feeling famished, and Naruto dug in with his usual enthusiasm, while Hinata kept up her ladylike appearance. It was while they were eating that Tazuna finally returned home. He made his way to the table and seated himself, and promptly offered Naruto two pieces of paper. Then, a big grin spread over his bearded face. "Here you go, Naruto. Two tickets for the ferry to Water Country." Naruto took the tickets with his mouth still stuffed with food. At least he had the sense to swallow before speaking. "A ferry? Woah. I'd totally forgotten that we'd need to cross an ocean to get there. Thanks Tazuna-san!" He thanked the man excitedly, but Hinata was less than enthusiastic about a boat ride. Especially across an entire ocean. "Wait…these tickets are for tomorrow afternoon. I don't know that much about the lay of the land here, but I've seen a few maps. It's at least a three day journey to the coastline from here, isn't it?" Naruto asked, feeling a little confused. "Normally, yes. That is if you walk. But I've also taken the liberty to arrange a cart for you. It'll be here tomorrow at dawn. You'll make it there in a day, and you'll only have to stop once or twice along the way. Plus, you have a more convenient way to haul all your luggage." Tazuna explained.

"You really did think of everything, old man. Thanks. This is fantastic." Naruto exclaimed, already looking forward to the journey. "Dinner was great, Tsunami-san. But I wanna go to bed now, and rest properly, since we have to get up early tomorrow, right, Hinata-chan?" He asked of her, and she simply nodded in reply.

The two made their way to their respective rooms where they packed up all their belongings including their new weapons, and set aside some clothes for the trip. Everything else was packed in their backpacks, and they made sure to check if they had enough money, before falling asleep, bodies tired and stomachs full.

When they woke up next morning, the sun hadn't come up yet. It was still dark out, but everyone else in the house was up as well. They had a light breakfast before everyone helped load up their luggage onto the horse-drawn cart. Naruto and Hinata gave the family their heartfelt thanks and wished them and everyone else in town good luck. Tazuna returned their gestures on behalf of everyone and set the two on their way.

"Isn't this great, Hinata-chan? At this rate, we'll be there in no time at all. And we can start training to become stronger even faster!" Nothing could take away Naruto's enthusiasm for training. But it didn't catch onto Hinata this time. And Naruto noticed. "Hey, Hinata-chan. What's wrong?" He asked, feeling a little concerned. She didn't answer right away. Then, she blushed as if she was thinking about something embarrassing. Surprisingly, Naruto just waited patiently for her answer. "The thing is…I…I don't…I don't like…boats. I don't like boats, Naruto-kun. They make me…sick…" She was feeling sick just thinking about it. What if she threw up on Naruto-kun? What if she passed out? What if she threw up on him and then passed out too? Oh it was just too horrible for her to imagine. He'd be utterly disgusted with her.

"Aw, you worry too much, Hinata-chan. I'm sure they have medicine for people who get seasick. Or maybe they give you candy. I don't know. I haven't been on a boat before. How do you know boats make you sick, Hinata-chan? Were you ever on a boat before?" He asked, concern quickly becoming curiosity. "Y-Yeah…I had to travel and meet a lot of important people as Hyuga clan heir…with my father." She left out the part where the people they met were actually wealthy families and people who wanted a union by marriage to the Hyuga. Back then, it was like she was an object to be given away to whoever bid the highest. But now…Naruto-kun said she was precious to him.

"Tell me more about the places you've been to, Hinata-chan." He interrupted her train of thought, not noticing the light blush that had crept onto her face. She realized that it would be nice to describe the places she'd seen on her travels. He didn't ask her to tell him about the people, right? And maybe if she told him about the various foods she'd tried, that would keep him entertained even more. She stifled a soft giggle and went on to tell him about the various things she'd seen. It was nice. Watching his face light up as she described the wonderful things she'd seen, the places she'd been to. Some of it was hard to remember since she was a lot younger back then. He'd pretend to drool and cry when she mentioned some of the food she'd eaten, which made her laugh.

The whole morning passed by much like that. Even the driver got a few laughs out of the conversations they had. Eventually he stopped the cart at a nearby tree for some lunch. Stopping was dangerous though, as they could be attacked by bandits at any second, and there were only two genin here. As a precaution, Hinata used her byakugan during the lunch break, just to make sure no one would sneak up on them.

Lunch took about half an hour before they set off once again. The ride was uneventful for the most part. In fact, Naruto even fell asleep at one point. Hinata spent the time contemplating how they would convince the Mizukage to accept them. True, having two new ninja would be good, except they were still genin. Hinata had a bloodline to offer in service, but Naruto-kun…what could he offer? He had stamina, that's for sure. And he has potential. So much potential. But would it be enough? Guess they'd have to wait and see.

"Hey, you should wake him up. We're almost there." The driver called back to Hinata. She had half a mind to pinch his nose again, but she put it aside this time. He hadn't done anything to deserve that this time. "Naruto-kun. Time to wake up. We're almost there." She tried to be enthusiastic but she _really _wasn't looking forward to the boat ride. Naruto woke up and stretched himself out. He felt a little bad for sleeping and leaving Hinata without much company, but she assured him that it was no problem.

Half an hour later, they were at the docks. The sun was just beginning to set as they made their way down the piers. Soon, they stopped at a fairly large looking ferry. It looked like it could carry a few hundred people, and their luggage easily enough. They didn't have any luggage to store, as all they had were the few clothes in their backpacks, and their weapons which they decided they'd rather carry around. Soon, they were on board, and settled into their cabin. It was then that Naruto's stomach gave an almighty growl. "Oh! Now that we've finally stopped moving, it looks like my stomach just caught up with me. I wonder if they serve dinner on this ferry. Ehehe." He tried to laugh it off without looking too much like an idiot. Hinata was simply amused. Naruto-kun will be Naruto-kun. She giggled but she couldn't deny that she too was hungry.

So they left their cabin and walked around on the deck. Several people were already on board. Since the ferry was set to depart around dawn, many passengers decided to get settled in during easier hours. Hinata's seasickness seemed to have returned, as she looked paler than normal now. "Hey Hinata-chan. Let's get something to eat, and look around for a first aid room or something. A boat this big is bound to have some seasickness medicine, right?" He offered. She didn't want to talk, in fear of making herself sicker, so she nodded instead. The two found their way to a small dining area where some passengers were already eating. Most of them were civilians and workers. Only a couple of Mist ninja were on board.

They ordered some noodles because it was the closest thing they had to ramen on the boat. Dinner went by without any conversation, as Hinata was still wary of throwing up. Naruto was getting more concerned that she wasn't speaking, but they had to eat properly first. As soon as they were done, they paid for their meal and left the dining area. They asked around if anyone had any seasickness medicine, or if they knew where to get some. Well. Naruto asked. Hinata didn't talk at all. And they hadn't even left the dock yet. Naruto was starting to wonder if Hinata-chan would make it through the trip in one piece. Still, one passenger finally managed to point them in the direction of the first aid room, where the nurse kindly gave Hinata some pills, and advised her to sleep through as much of the voyage as possible. You couldn't throw up if you were asleep.

By the time they retreated back to their cabins, it was around ten in the evening. Naruto thought that it was a reasonable time for them to hit the sack since they'd been travelling all day. He waited outside for her to get changed into more comfortable sleeping clothes and tuck herself in. When she was done, she called out to him, and he went in and changed into shorts and t-shirt. In front of her. While she blushed and hid under then covers. Which he didn't notice. He still had a lot to learn about boy-girl interactions.

He got himself into his own bunk without much talk and quickly got comfortable. "Goodnight, Hinata-chan." He wished her. "G-goodnight, Na-Naruto-kun." She stammered as she blushed because intimate thoughts flooded her head. She was sleeping in the same room as Naruto-kun. Sure, it wasn't the same…bed…but this was a lot more than she had ever dreamed possible at that age.

"Don't….forget…your…medicine…" She was snapped out of daze by Naruto's mumbling. She felt touched that even when he was half asleep, he showed so much concern for her. She had indeed forgotten her pills, and proceeded to take them before she too drifted off to sleep.

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A/N: I love senbon needles. Don't you? They're overlooked so much in the canon, and I've read one fanfic where Naruto learned to use senbon, and I thought that it was amazing! There's so much you could do with senbon needles. I've already thought of at least five new ways they could use the senbon. I can't wait till I get to write those chapters xD. Stay awsum guys!


	10. The Mizukage

A/N: Heh. And here I thought I was late for this update. I'm really pleased by how well this story is being received by you guys out there. If you think that it's worth sharing with your friends, please do so. I'd really appreciate it. Anyway, enjoy the story.

Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto.

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**The Mizukage**

Naruto was the first one to wake up the following morning. He thought about waking Hinata up, but decided against it, since she would most probably feel sick again. It was eight in the morning, and they were already out at sea. He decided that he'd dress himself up and get some breakfast, and maybe something for Hinata-chan too.

A few minutes later, he was standing at the railing on the portside of the boat, looking off into the horizon. Konoha was well and truly out of their reach now, until they were ready to come back. He wondered how his friends were doing. Sasuke…what would he be doing now? Would he actually be obedient and stay within the lines? And who would he compete with, now that Naruto was gone? Shikamaru would be too lazy, and Chouji is too pacifistic. Maybe Kiba would. Who knows? And Sakura-chan…would she care at all? Naruto was finally out of her hair. Now she could just focus on her precious Sasuke-kun. _"She wouldn't miss me much. Maybe for a day or two. But I'm sure sensei will find a way to take her mind off things." _Though he didn't feel as much need for Sakura's attention, he still felt a little hurt at the thought of being so easily forgotten, when all he wanted his entire life was acknowledgement. But all he had gotten was scorn. His heart clenched a bit.

"_No more! That's all going to change once I get back. I'll save Konoha, and the village will _have _to acknowledge me!" _He banished the painful memories away, and replaced them with steely resolve. He walked away and headed towards the dining room, hoping that he wasn't too late for breakfast. His spirits lifted when he saw that there was still plenty left. He helped himself to big healthy breakfast for once. He did miss morning ramen, but a change once in a while was nice too. Bread and meat make a pretty good breakfast. He packed some up for Hinata-chan and headed back to his cabin, where Hinata-chan was still asleep. _"I guess the nurse gave her some sleeping pills too." _Naruto thought with a soft chuckle.

He left the cabin again, with nothing else to do except wander around. "Hey kid." The voice came from his left, and Naruto turned to see a Mist ninja about twenty years old or so, with dark brown hair that was tied back into a high ponytail, and emerald green eyes. He wore a dark grey body suit, not completely black, and a greyish green vest over it. He wore his headband over his forehead in the normal fashion, and all in all, he looked like a very plain mist chunin or jonin. "Yea? Can I help you?" He replied. "What's a little Leaf kid like you doing so far away from home?" The man asked. Naruto felt a little miffed about being called a little kid, and his temper began to show. "And why should I tell you? I don't even _know _you?" He shot at the man. "Good point, kid. Alright. The name's Hideki. Not telling you more than that." Hideki introduced himself. "Fine. Name's Naruto. Now what do you want?" He was still a little irritated.

"Forgot what I just said already? Are you really that thick?" Hideki mocked. Now Naruto was really pissed off. He was about to jump the man when logic told him that it wouldn't end well. Instead. _"You _approached _me._ If you wanna peacefully get info out of me, you're gonna have to be more open than that. I may be a kid but it looks like I know a bit more about gathering intel than you do." Naruto ended with a sneer. Hideki seemed amused by the boy's attitude. "Hmm. Ok Naruto, you got me there. I'll stop beating around the bush. My name is Toma Hideki. I'm a chunin from the Hidden Mist village in case you were wondering about my rank. I'm nineteen, and I live alone. My parents were both ninja, and they both died on a mission. Don't even think about offering me sympathy. They died the death of warriors, and I'm proud of them. I'm returning from a mission in the Land of Fire. Now, would you tell me some more?" He asked, politely this time, gesturing to a nearby table. Naruto was hesitant, but he figured that having a friend might be helpful, so he took his seat.

"I'm Uzumaki Naruto. And my story…is…a long story…" He finished uncertainly. "This is a long trip. Might as well hear a good story, Naruto. If you need it, I might even be able to help you." Hideki offered and Naruto thought about for a while.

"Alright." He recalled all the events of the invasion as he had heard them from Kakashi-sensei, and told Hideki about the deaths of the Hokage and Jiraiya, even telling him of his personal attachment to them. "Wait wait wait hold up hold up! YOU? A twelve year old kid? You were not only on friendly terms with the _hokage _but the Sannin Jiraiya as well? And you were trained by Copy-Ninja Kakashi, arguably, Konoha's top jonin? I thought you were going to tell me the truth!" Hideki exclaimed, finding Naruto's story hard to believe…to say the least.

"You got some chips?" Naruto asked. Hideki just blinked in confusion. "What?" Naruto frowned. "Never mind. I think I got some biscuits for him to munch on." And Naruto proceeded to rummage through his pockets, before pulling out a pack of biscuits from his jacket. He laid on the table, and bit his finger before making the handsigns and slamming his palm onto the table. A small puff of smoke formed, and a bright yellow toad appeared. "Hiya, Naruto. What's up? You got some chips?" The toad asked.

"No chips, Gamatatsu. Just some biscuits, though. Help yourself." Naruto gestured to the pack lying on the table, before turning his attention back to Hideki. "This is Gamatatsu. One of my toad summons. There was only one ninja in the entire village of Konoha that summoned toads during my life time. Actually, the last two before me were Jiraiya and the Yondaime Hokage who was a student of Jiraiya. I think you know about the death of the Yondaime, so I'll skip the details. Anyway, it was Jiraiya who offered me the toad contract, and if you still don't believe me, I don't know what else I could do." Naruto was almost daring the older ninja to challenge his word, while the little toad happily munched away.

"No…I don't think that would be necessary. Alright…I believe you…and I suppose…I'll believe the rest of your story as well." Hideki muttered. He couldn't deny that there was indeed a toad sitting in front of him…eating biscuits.

Naruto acknowledged it, and continued his story, recalling the reasons he had left Konoha. It was like being given a mission, in a way. He told Hideki why he had chosen to go the mist village, at which point, he told Hideki about Hinata. "Naruto. Don't you know how the Mist Village treats people with bloodline limits?" Hideki asked, wondering if Naruto had thought this through properly.

"Yea…I do…I met a mist ninja with a bloodline limit a while back. His name was Haku. He told me story of the wars you guys had. But he also told me that things were different now, under the new Mizukage. The ninjas have a greater respect for each other, don't they? Maybe a few villagers would target her, but she's strong and she has me to protect her." He said, remembering how the villagers used to treat him as a kid. He would _not _let that happen to Hinata-chan.

"It's true. Things are more stable now. But still. I'd advise you to be careful. And I'm assuming that this Haku is already dead. You said his name _was_…past tense…anyway, what's your plan when you get there?" Hideki asked, trying to change the direction of the conversation. It worked because Naruto snapped out of his depressing train of thought. "We're going to become Mist ninja." He said bluntly.

Hideki blinked a couple of times. "Naruto…I know that Mizukage-sama is much more kind and welcoming than the previous one, but you're still a ninja from another village. How will you earn the trust that you need?" Hideki was surprised when Naruto grinned. "I've already got a plan. A gift for the Mizukage. I'm not telling you what it is though. It's a secret." Hideki narrowed his eyes. "Naruto…you're about to meet with the Mizukage under suspicious circumstances. One might think this was an assassination attempt. But…I'm going to take your word for it, because you don't seem like the lying type to me. However, other people don't know that, so be careful and choose your words and actions carefully." Hideki warned, and was glad to see that Naruto seemed to have understood the gravity of the situation he was getting into. He could very easily be arrested or even killed if he gave off the wrong idea.

"Alright. Well, that killed most of the morning. It's lunchtime. And I really think you should wake up Hinata now. We'll be there in about three more hours if the good weather keeps up. If you'd like, I can escort you to the village, and maybe even put in a good word for you with Mizukage-sama after my mission report." Hideki offered as he got up to leave.

"Really? Awesome! That'd be great, Hideki. I'd really appreciate that. Wait, why would do that for me anyway?" Naruto asked as his excitement turned to suspicion. "Haha. Good choice kid. Don't jump into everything with blind trust. I really meant it when I said be careful. Some traces of the Bloody Mist can still be found in the village. As for my reason, it's simple. I like you, kid." He replied with his back to Naruto and already waving goodbye, as Gamakichi vanished, leaving an empty packet behind.

Naruto decided that now, he had some things to discuss with Hinata and that she _really _should wake up by now. He walked over to their cabin and saw that the breakfast was untouched so he threw it out, and proceeded to wake her up. She yawned and stretched for a bit, and turned crimson when Naruto told her the time and called her a sleepy-head. She felt embarrassed for sleeping in so long. It made her look lazy, but Naruto didn't make a big deal of it. He waited outside so she could freshen up and join him for lunch. Naruto told her about his chat with Hideki, and she agreed that having a friend would indeed make things a lot easier. However, he left out the part about the Bloody Mist and the bloodline limit war they had. She didn't need to feel queasy and throw up right after lunch.

Naruto spent the rest of the voyage trying to get Hinata to go over to the edge and look over the railings, but she refused to budge. At one point, he even grabbed her hand and tried to pull her over, and though she flushed brilliantly and froze for a few seconds, she still refused to go anywhere near the edge, until they stopped moving. So, after Naruto exhausted himself, he just dropped flat onto the deck and watched the clouds roll by, while Hinata sat next to him.

An hour passed, and they came ashore. They had no luggage to collect, so they were set to depart faster than the rest of the passengers. "Hey, Hinata-chan. We should wait for Hideki. He said he'd take us with him. It'd be faster if we go with someone who's familiar with the land, don't you think?" Naruto suggested before they both walked off. Hinata agreed and soon, spotted the chunin that Naruto described for her. When she pointed him out, Naruto called him over and introduced Hinata to him.

Soon, they were on their way towards the Mist village. The day was bright and clear for the most part as they walked down the path with Hideki in the lead. They didn't talk much, and each seemed to be lost in their own train of thought.

"Hey you two. Stay close. We're getting closer to the Mist Village. You did notice the mist around you, right?" Hideki called back to the two. Indeed, visibility _was _lower, though the sky still looked clear. "Yea. Why is it so misty, Hideki? It's so bright and clear today." Naruto squinted as he tried to figure out the origin of the mist. "No idea. It's a natural phenomenon. This mist is always and I mean always present, no matter what season it is or what the weather is like. Hell, I bet a tornado couldn't clear up this mist." Hideki sighed. Though the mist was advantageous in terms of stealth, it wouldn't kill this place to get a bright sunny day once in a while, would it?

"Look alive, kids. We're here." Hideki spoke up as the village came into view. It was a lot bleaker and a lot less vibrant than Konoha. The predominant color appeared to be grey, because almost all the buildings looked grey. Buildings rose several storeys into the air, while some were smaller and placed on top of natural cliffs. Some even had rooftop gardens with thick shrubs growing on them. Several high walkways snaked through the town, and they all seemed to be connected to one central building which was different from the rest. It was a lot wider and from the outside, it looked like it had high roofs.

"Yea that's where we're going. So keep up you two. And don't get lost. It might take a while before you get used to the mist." Hideki instructed as he made his way up one of the walkways. The two leaf ninja tried to take in their surroundings but found that their efforts were obstructed by the mist. So they made sure to stick close to Hideki, as they made their way towards the Mizukage's office.

"Hideki. You're back. Come to report in? Oh but who are they?" The receptionist asked as they entered the giant building. Naruto couldn't be sure, but it felt bigger than the Hokage's tower. Maybe it wasn't as tall, but it was definitely more spacious and open. "Yea. Is this a good time? And don't worry about them. They're with me." Hideki replied. "Yes of course. You can go in." The receptionist gestured to the door. "Alright. You two have a seat. This'll take only a couple of minutes. Ah, why am I even saying that? You already know how this goes." Hideki chuckled to himself before making heading through the giant doors into the Mizukage's room.

Naruto and Hinata sat down and a spent the next couple of minutes wondering what they would say. "Naruto-kun. Don't be offended, but I think you should let me do the talking. I've talked to dignitaries and powerful people before, so I might know how to handle this better than you do." Hinata suggested timidly. "Yea, that's probably a good idea, Hinata-chan. I want to make a good impression." Naruto's reply surprised Hinata, but she did not have time to press further, because the doors opened and Hideki called them both inside. They shared a look, and it was clear that they were both nervous, but they got up and headed in.

Inside, they came face to face with a woman who looked like she was in her thirties. She had ankle-length, auburn hair styled into a herringbone pattern at the back, a top-knot tied with a dark blue band, along with green eyes, though only one was visible through her hair. "Welcome to the Kirigakure. My name is Terumi Mei, the Godaime Mizukage." She smiled kindly at the two kids. They bowed politely and thanked her for the welcome. She then gestured to them to sit down. "Now then. I don't get visitors from Konoha very often, and this might be the first time I've met a pair of genin without their sensei. I am assuming that you have something out of the ordinary for me, because this certainly is an out of the ordinary situation."

Naruto and Hinata shared a look again, and nodded. Hinata turned back to the Mizukage and recalled all the events that happened during the fall of Konoha. The Mizukage expressed her regret for the death of the Sandaime Hokage and Sannin Jiraiya. Hinata continued to recall leaving the village, and told her of the journey the two had taken to get to the Mist village, and the help that Hideki had given them. She did leave out the part about obtaining the Zabuza's sword.

"I see. So what exactly do you want from me?" Mei asked kindly. This time, it was Naruto who spoke up. "We want to become ninja of the Hidden Mist village so that we can train and become strong enough to free Konoha." He said with iron determination. The room was silent as Mei contemplated the situation. "Alright. And why should I trust you? Though you are just two genin, I would never make the mistake of underestimating your possible skills as spies just because of your age and your rank as ninja. I've seen ninja younger thank you, and deadlier than jonin." She spoke seriously. However the children were not fazed. "We thought that you might say that, Mizukage-sama, so we came with an offering." Hinata replied. "Oh? And what could two genin from a fallen Leaf village offer me that would convince me to let them become my ninja?" Though Mei was known for her kindness, and open-mindedness, she was not gullible and would not take unnecessary risks.

"A treasure of the Mist village. I asked my toad summons to store it in their home for safe keeping until I could return it to you. With your permission, I'd like to summon it back here." Naruto spoke with unusual formality and politeness. He knew the gravity of the situation. The Mizukage was their last hope and he would not screw this up. "Very well. Proceed." Mei gestured for Naruto to continue. _"Toad summons. The last people I've heard of who used that contract was Jiraiya and the Yondaime Hokage." _Mei did not miss the implication that Naruto's words had, though it seemed that the boy himself did not notice.

He had stood up and walked a short distance away from the desk, so that he had enough room for his summoning. He bit his thumb and ran through the signs. "Kuchiyose no Jutsu!" He placed his palm on the ground, and a puff of smoke erupted around his hand. When the smoke cleared, there was an orange toad, sitting on a giant blade. "Thanks for holding onto it, Gamakichi. I really appreciate it." He thanked the small toad as it vanished. He picked up the blade and offered it to the Mizukage who was wide-eyed at what she was being presented with.

"Kubikiribōchō. How did you get this?" She asked Naruto, as she took the sword from him. "I met Zabuza on my first mission out of Konoha. He fought my sensei, Hatake Kakashi, and was killed by some thugs belonging to a man named Gato. In the end, he died an honorable death, avenging the person who was most precious to him. I felt that he would've wanted to sword to return to its home, so I brought it here, after taking it…from his grave." Naruto finished monotonously. However, Mei was busy scrutinizing the sword as if to make sure it was authentic. After a long look-over, she turned back to the two genin.

"This is indeed a great treasure of the village. One of the Seven Swords is back from the hands of a missing nin. Alright. I accept. You may stay in my village and serve as my ninja." She declared before setting the sword down on her table. Naruto and Hinata's faces lit up at the Mizukage's words. "However." She added, wiping the smiles of both their faces. "I need to know what your skills are so that I can assign you your deserved rank, and so that I can consider you for missions. So, you two will take a special exam of my design, though it will be similar to the chunin exams held in Konoha. Depending on your performance, I may even give you the rank of chunin. You have one month to train and prepare yourselves. During this time, you will be given a place to stay, free of rent. However, after that, you will have to take missions and pay monthly rent and bills, like everyone else. Fair enough?" The way she said would've made them think they had another choice, but that wasn't so. "That's more than what we thought we'd get, so we thankfully accept, Mizukage-sama." Again, it was Naruto who spoke formally and bowed much to everyone's surprise.

"Very well then. This is the address. Hideki. Show them where to go so that they can get settled in." She said, handing the piece of paper to Hideki, who bowed to Mizukage as well. She dismissed the trio and they walked out the door.

"That went well." Naruto said cheerfully, grinning his usual grin. Hideki laughed at the simple statement. "Hahaha. Damn right it did. It's not every day that a ninja can run off and join another village just like that. You're something else, Naruto." Hideki clapped a hand on Naruto's shoulder as they walked to their new home. "Hell yea! I'm the guy who's gonna become the greatest Hokage ever. 'Course I'm something else." He said in a bragging tone. "Is that so? Aren't you getting a little ahead of yourself? Ah never mind. We're here." He said, pointing to an eight storey building.

"Your apartment is in there on the third floor. The room number is on this key. You'll need to stock up on food, and the grocery store is on the other side of your block. Tell you what. First round is on me. I've got plenty saved up since I live alone. Here you go. That should hold you over for two weeks." He said as he gave them they keys and some money for food. "If you need anything else, call me. Your place should have a phone in there, so here's my number. And my address if you wanna drop by. I live in this neighborhood actually. Didn't even notice that." He chuckled as he gave them his own number and address.

"Thank you very much, Hideki-san. You've been a great help to us, and we really appreciate it." Hinata said, offering a small bow to Hideki. "Hey now, save that for the Mizukage. It's nothing, really. Happy to help. Well. Good luck settling in." He gave to two a last wave before turning around and heading to his own home.

Naruto turned to Hinata and was already looking excited. "Shall we, Hinata-chan?" He asked, and they went in when she nodded. They made their way up the flight of stairs and found their room. They proceeded to unlock the door, and with a glance at each other, they pushed the door open.

They stepped into a fairly modern looking living room dining room combo. A sofa with a tv in front of it, a small dining table behind the sofa, and modest sized bookshelf standing at one wall of the room. The kitchen came with a large refrigerator, and a stove-oven combo, with plenty of counters and shelves on the walls. Unlike the rest of the village, the inside wasn't grey. It was creamy white color with brown accents along the walls. It gave of a warm soft feeling about the place. The apartment had two bedrooms each with its own bathroom. They were identical, so the two quickly took their rooms, and dumped their bags.

"This is it then. Home sweet home for the next couple of years, Hinata-chan." Naruto said as they sat at the dining table to look out the window. The view was pretty decent from the third floor. Not many buildings in this neighborhood towered that high. Just two or three. Hinata blushed lightly, as she realized that she would be _living _with Naruto for the next few years. Things had changed so drastically and so fast. "Yea…I'm a little worried, though Naruto-kun." She said nervously. "Hm? About what, Hinata-chan?" Naruto asked, wondering what could be wrong. "Well…I've never lived without adults before. I don't exactly know about paying bills and rent and grocery shopping and things like that." She felt a little embarrassed to not know such commonplace things. "That's ok, Hinata-chan. I've lived alone all my life for as long as I can remember. I know how to do things like pay bills and rent and buy food. But…all I know how to cook is ramen. Umm…do _you _know how to cook other stuff, Hinata-chan?" He asked, rubbing the back of his head.

"Well…yes…I do, Naruto-kun. If that's the way it is, then I guess we could make this work." Hinata said as she tried to recall the few things about cooking she had learned from her mother. They could get by. And things would get easier, right? "That's great, Hinata-chan. Now. Let's go shopping!" He exclaimed before bounding of his seat and leaping over the sofa. Hinata giggled and followed him out, being careful to lock the door behind her.

They found the store exactly where Hideki had told them it would be. It didn't take long to find all the important staples that they'd need for the next couple of weeks. Next, they bought some vegetables, which Naruto made faces at, but Hinata said he'd have to eat them, because she promised Kakashi-sensei, which resulted in Naruto relenting. Hinata was starting to get through his stubbornness after all.

The shopping didn't take too long because they were able to find everything they needed for the first couple of weeks in the one store. They returned to their apartment and with some help from Naruto, Hinata had a filling and healthy dinner prepared for the two of them. It felt nice to share a meal with each other. Naruto never had much company during meal times, and whatever company Hinata had had as a child was always formal and quiet. This was more fun and enjoyable. When dinner was done, Naruto did the dishes because it was a chore that he was already familiar with, and they decided to rest properly that night.

"Well. Goodnight then, Hinata-chan. We start training tomorrow after breakfast. I can't wait." Naruto said though he was yawning already from all the travelling. It had been a long _long _week for the two.

"Right. Goodnight, Naruto-kun." She replied before disappearing into her own roof for a good night's sleep.

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A/N: There you go. I hope you guys liked the chapter.

Now, I have some bad news. Due to the ongoing exams, I am having a really difficult time finding inspiration, and the time to write. Normally it takes me two to three days to write a chapter, but I haven't made progress on the next chapter for like a week. So, I'm taking a small break from updating this story. I will _try _to write as much as possible, but my time is very limited these days, and inspiration is hard to come by in a freaking textbook. I hope you guys understand, so please don't rage-quit the story, and just be patient. I promise that this story will go on. My goal is a 100+ chapters, and I don't plan on giving that up. Anyway, hope you guys understand, and thanks for your support to the story. See you guys in a week or two. Stay awsum! :)


	11. Training

A/N: My longest chapter to date! Thank you for being patient with me. Hope you guys enjoy this chapter.

Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto.

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**Training**

It's really hard to tell when the sun rises in the Mist village because you can hardly see the sky through the Mist. Still, Naruto and Hinata managed to wake up early enough. The sun was just beginning to creep up over the horizon when they got up and dressed and sat down for breakfast.

"Naruto-kun. Do you have any idea how we're going to train?" Hinata asked, because she hadn't given it much thought herself. "Well. There's lots to do. It's no secret that I have an unnatural amount of endurance, so we should do some endurance training for you. Then there's teamwork, stealth, and jutsu training and we have to practice with the senbon too. You have to practice with your byakugan, and I have to see that jutsu scroll that Jiraiya left for me." Naruto listed out, trying to come up with a schedule in his head. "That's a lot for one month, Naruto-kun. Can we actually do it?" Hinata asked, feeling a little nervous about holding Naruto back. "Course we can, Hinata-chan. If we try our hardest, we can do anything, right?" He said with his usual grin. Hinata was still feeling apprehensive but felt reassured that Naruto at least seemed to have some confidence in her ability.

"Oh where are we supposed to train, Naruto-kun? We don't know where the training grounds are, or if we even have permission to use them." Hinata pointed out. "Hm. Yea, you're right. Maybe Hideki can help out." Naruto replied and went to call Hideki. Once Hideki assured him that he doesn't need permission to use the training grounds and gave him directions to get there, Naruto invited him to drop by later. Hideki mumbled out a yes, and Naruto was sure that he fell asleep without hanging up the phone.

"That's that settled. Let's go then, Hinata-chan." He said after hanging up. She agreed, and the two gathered their supplies, locked up, and walked to the training ground. It was still misty, and Naruto figured that it wouldn't make much sense to expect anything else. A couple of minutes later, they arrived at a small training ground. It was perfect since there were only two of them, and they didn't plan on doing much the first day either.

"So. What are we going to do, Naruto-kun? Have you thought of a plan for this?" Hinata asked, as she didn't really know how to plan a proper training schedule for the two of them. She always followed the instructions given to her by either her father, or Kurenai-sensei. Now that they were on their own, she felt like she was depending on Naruto for instructions.

"I have, actually. You're gonna do byakugan training while I take a look at the jutsu scroll. We'll keep that up till noon, and then we'll switch to endurance training. We'll do that for the first two weeks, and then we can start working on stealth, teamwork, and weapons the next two weeks. It's not a lot of time, so we might have to train every day. Can you handle that, Hinata-chan?" He asked, not sure if Hinata could handle it. "I'll try my best, Naruto-kun." Hinata replied, feeling a little unsure of herself.

"Alright then. Guess it's time to take a look at that scroll. You can help out until I get started." Naruto said before fishing out the scroll from his pack. He opened it and laid it across the grass. "Naruto-kun. This scroll is blank." Hinata said in a confused tone. "Yea. Kakashi-sensei explained that. I'm supposed to give it a bit of blood and chakra, so that the scroll will only reveal its contents to me. That Jiraiya was a master of sealing techniques, so he probably came up with that." Naruto explained, as he used a kunai to give himself a small cut on his first two fingers. He pressed his hands onto the scroll and pushed some chakra through his hand.

Immediately, writing began to appear on the scroll. "There we go. Take a look, Hinata-chan." Naruto said as all the writing appeared on the scroll. Hinata scooted closer so they were both sitting side by side and looking at the scroll.

"Rasengan

While most jutsu require you to get one key aspect perfect for the technique to work properly, the Rasengan requires _three. _This technique requires immense chakra control and is considered A-rank. This technique relies on chakra control to achieve powerful rotation of chakra in a controlled form to achieve maximum power. This technique is under no circumstances to be used to harm a ninja of the Leaf Village, and must be used only when necessary." Hinata read out for the both of them.

"That's it? Powerful rotation in a controlled form? What the hell does that even mean? And what's this Rasengan even supposed to look like?" Naruto exclaimed. "Look carefully Naruto-kun. It looks like someone's added extra notes to the scroll." Hinata pointed out to a part that had different hand writing.

"Oh yea. Must've been Jiraiya. Let's see…it looks like…he's broken in down for me. It says here, that learning it requires three steps. The first is rotation. And there's a note here…water balloon…what the hell does that mean?" Naruto was starting to get irritated by the vague instructions. Hinata however, remained level headed. "The first step is rotation…and…water balloons. Naruto-kun…I think you're supposed to use chakra to rotate the water in the balloon." Hinata suggested. "Maybe. But what's the point?" Naruto countered. "Since this sounds like an offensive technique…maybe…burst the balloon using chakra rotation?" Hinata offered. "Alright. I'll try. I'll go get some balloons then. Oh I have an idea too. Since I'm going into town, why don't you use your byakugan to keep track of me?" Naruto said, as he got up.

"Ok, Naruto-kun. Hurry back." She called out to him as she activated her byakugan. She was glad to discover that the mist didn't interfere with her byakugan as she watched Naruto run towards the stores. It was hard to keep track of him in a crowd, but she managed to keep up with him because he was the only one running around. She watched him buy a pack of balloons and a small bucket from the nearest convenience store. He didn't go back home to fill the balloons, but found a drinking fountain at a nearby park. He filled up a couple of balloons and made his way back to the training ground.

"Ok. Now how does this work?" He asked as he dropped the bucket of water balloons onto the ground. "The scroll said that this step is all about rotation. When you did that exercise with the leaf, you had to push your chakra up to keep the leaf afloat. In a way, this is similar, but you have to move your chakra around in a circle, I suppose. Try it, Naruto-kun. I'll watch." Hinata said, handing him a water balloon. Naruto took the balloon and sat next to Hinata.

He pushed some chakra into the balloon, pretty much the same way that he tried with the leaf. The balloon bulged out towards the top and it showed that chakra _was_ being pushed into it. "That's good Naruto-kun. Now try to move the chakra flow." Hinata commented while watching with her byakugan. She was watching Naruto's hand, or more precisely, the chakra network in his hand. She tried to move her vision up his arm, while keeping his hand in full view. It was a lot harder than it sounded. Naruto was focusing intently on the balloon, and after a few seconds, the bulge began to wobble. It shook one way then the next. It also moved from the top of the balloon to the sides. It shook back and forth faster and faster.

Soon, it was possible to see the bulge moving around in a circle around the balloon. "Ok. I can do _that _now. Now how do I burst it?" Naruto mumbled. "I don't know, Naruto-kun. I think you're just supposed to keep going faster and faster." Hinata offered, trying to help but even she couldn't see how the balloon would just burst by spinning the water in it. The balloon would stretch to accommodate the change in shape. And she had her own training to focus on. She could see just a bit more of his chakra network. About a quarter of the way up his forearm. She kept pushing but it was more difficult than she'd thought. Then again, learning something new almost always is.

And that's how the first morning went by. By noon, Naruto had burst all of the balloons he had brought. Just not in the way he had hoped. Frustration took hold of him many times, and he ended up just smashing the balloons into the ground. Hinata had made _some _progress. She could now comfortable keep her focus on a small part of his chakra network, and with a lot of effort, she was able to see it all the way up to his elbow. It was progress, but she needed a bigger radius for it to be useful.

"That was good progress, Naruto-kun. But I think it's time for a lunch break. I brought some sandwiches." Hinata said as she offered him a couple from her pack. It was mainly meant to be healthy rather than filling. Naruto did protest at first, but Hinata made a face, so he relented and ate his sandwich. They ate quietly, and about half an hour later, they were done. But that meant that endurance training was about to begin. And Hinata wasn't looking forward to that.

"Naruto-kun. How are we going to do this endurance training?" She asked nervously. "Well. The first thing we need to do is exhaust our chakra supply. All the way down to almost nothing. Then, we're going to spar. Our goal is to keep going for as long as possible. How's that sound?" Naruto suggested. "Um…that's fine, Naruto-kun. But…I don't have as much chakra as you do, and I know you recover fast. So, if I'm going to train tomorrow, I can't afford to completely exhaust myself." Hinata said, feeling a little bad for backing out. But if she was to be in any condition to train the next day, she couldn't afford to exhaust herself. "Good point, Hinata-chan…let's see…well, I guess endurance training works by pushing through hard conditions. So…if you know any kind of training that'll make you spend a lot of chakra, you can try that. I'm just going to create as many shadow clones as I can, and have battle royal." Naruto suggested. "Ok, Naruto-kun. I'm going to work on extending my byakugan's range. And I think I'll move into the trees, to give you your space." She said, fully away of how much damage Naruto could cause if he wasn't careful. Naruto nodded his approval, and watched as Hinata made herself comfortable on a high branch.

"Tajuu Kagebunshin no Jutsu!" He yelled out and two hundred clones flickered into existence. "ALRIGHT! LAST MAN STANDING GETS TO BE HOKAGE!" He shouted out, instantly beginning the rumble. Hinata giggled at his antics before returning her focus to her own training. It was just as tiring as she had tried last time. She pushed at the edges of her vision, making sure to broaden them evenly. It took her the good part of an hour to increase her range by a quarter mile in every direction. Now she just had to hold it until it became comfortable enough to proceed further. Meanwhile the clones were down by a hundred, down below. The fighting had slowed, but it didn't stop, and Hinata was getting worried that Naruto would injure himself.

Darkness came a lot sooner to the Mist village than it did to Konoha. Probably because of the mist. But eventually, it was time to go. Only ten clones remained, and Hinata was feeling the wear of chakra depletion too. If they slept early, they would be back to full strength tomorrow. So she hopped down from her branch and watched the last of the clones, poof out of existence. "Time to go then, Naruto-kun." She said as she picked up her pack and offered him his. "Yea. That was good training. I feel exhausted but great. How about you, Hinata-chan?" He asked as they began to walk back to the apartment. "I feel good too, Naruto-kun. I've made much more progress today, than I've ever made in a month's training back home." Hinata said, feeling proud of the progress she had made.

"That's fantastic, Hinata-chan! At this rate, we'll ace that test for sure!" Naruto still had the energy to exclaim as he gave her a friendly half hug, which made her blush, both because of the praise and the unexpected hug. Still, she kept her cool, and didn't faint.

They were soon back at their apartment, where after long showers, they had a quick dinner, and went to sleep.

And that's how the first five days of training went. Naruto still couldn't get the balloon to burst no matter how fast he spun the water. He did puncture the balloon, but it just wouldn't burst. It was during his endurance session on the sixth day that Hinata had an idea. She hopped down from what had become her usual perch during these sessions and signaled for Naruto to stop. He dismissed all the clones, and walked over to her. "What is it, Hinata-chan? Is something wrong? Are you alright? Do you wanna go home?" He said in a worried tone.

"I'm fine, Naruto-kun. I actually have an idea. Grab a water balloon. Actually, make it two." Hinata instructed, and Naruto did as he was told, curious to know what Hinata had come up with. "Try to spin the water in both balloons, Naruto-kun." Hinata told him. He held one balloon in each hand, and began to rotate his chakra. The rotation was easy now. But it still wasn't the right way to burst the balloon. "Ok. What now?" Naruto asked. "Ok. Try to rotate the chakra in your left hand without the balloon now." Naruto hesitated, but did not question her. He was eager to try anything that would help his progress. He dropped one balloon, and focused his chakra into a spinning disk shape over his left hand, all the while holding the balloon with the spinning water in his right. "Naruto-kun. Can you…add the spin in your left hand…into the balloon, but at a different angle?" Hinata said, wondering if it would work.

"Yea…I think so." Naruto moved his left hand over the balloon and added the second rotation to the balloon. The balloon bulged out in a different direction. Now it had two different rotations in it. "It's working, Naruto-kun. Now just keep adding more. In all different directions." Hinata was getting excited because she could see the turbulence in the water with her byakugan. Naruto focused hard and rapidly added more and more rotations to the water…until…

Splat!

"I DID IT, HINATA-CHAN!" He shouted out, leaping into the air, soaking wet with water. "I DID IT I DID IT I DID IT! That was amazing! What happened? How did you know that it would work?" He exclaimed nearly leaping on her in all his excitement. Hinata giggled at his enthusiasm and deactivated her byakugan.

"I didn't know it would work, Naruto-kun. It was just an idea. I was watching your clone war, and it was hard to keep up with what was going on, because there was so much random chaos. I realized that that was because there was so many of you. And I thought that the same thing could work with the water balloon. If there were more rotations, the water would become more chaotic and the balloon would burst. And it turned out that I was right." She finished her explanation, blushing at the look he was giving her, as if she was some kind of genius or something. "That was brilliant, Hinata-chan! Wow! You're amazing! I never would've figured that out without your help." He said, causing her to blush even darker. "I think that we've earned an early finish today. Come on. Let's go home."

So they packed up, and headed home, feeling great after finally making good progress. Naruto had finished the first step, and Hinata could hold the extra quarter mile of her byakugan radius comfortably, along with being able to see the chakra network all the way up Naruto's arm. Not bad for five days.

So, after returning to their apartment, and freshening up, they decided to watch some tv. It was different from what they showed back in Konoha. All the dramas were new, and even the cartoons were unfamiliar. And to no one's surprise, Naruto was the first to get bored. "Hinata-chaaan. This is boring. I'm all hyped up after finishing the first step, now I wanna do more." He whined in a childish tone. "Naruto-kun. We need to rest properly as well. And we've already showered, so it wouldn't do any good to get messy again. But I guess we could read what Jiraiya-sama said about the next step, so that we can take whatever we need when we go to train tomorrow." Hinata tried to placate him and seemed to have worked.

Naruto grabbed the scroll and unfurled it onto the coffee table, jabbing a finger to the next note. "Step two is all about power. Use a rubber ball." That was all the note said. Naruto did feel a little hesitant about cursing a dead man, but he couldn't help but feel irritated that there weren't more details. "Stupid old toad. I'm not sure if these were meant to be more helpful, or confusing." Naruto complained. "Don't be so negative, Naruto-kun. I think that you're supposed to do the same thing as you did with the balloons. Try to burst the rubber balls. Anyway, we'll get to try it tomorrow." Hinata suggested, which calmed Naruto down. Hinata always seemed to know the right thing to say.

"Oh alright. Is it dinner time yet, Hinata-chan?" He grumbled and as if on cue, his stomach growled, which made Hinata giggle. "Yes, I suppose we could eat, Naruto-kun. Let's go out and eat, Naruto-kun. We can find a takeaway place, or maybe they might even have a ramen shop here." Hinata suggested. "Ok. But it won't be as good as Ichirakus." Naruto mumbled as he got up and headed to the door. Just as he reached for the handle, a knock came on the door, so Naruto answered.

"Hey guys. I thought I'd drop by and see how you were doing. Sorry I haven't been by earlier this week." Hideki greeted Naruto, who suddenly got a mischievous glint in his eyes. "Perfect timing. We're going to get takeout and you're gonna show me the best ramen place in this village. Also, you're paying since we're just kids, and you didn't drop by to watch me train. Come on, Hinata-chan. And leave the money behind. Hideki-senpai is treating tonight." Naruto said, already pushing Hideki out the door, while Hinata followed behind. She didn't seem to be bothered that Naruto was almost taking advantage of Hideki. Naruto's attitude must've been rubbing off on her. He _did _say he'd drop by during their training.

So the two kids left the apartment with a protesting Hideki, who eventually gave in because he was afraid that arguing with Naruto could possibly kill his brain cells. So, it wasn't with much enthusiasm that he led to two to a quaint corner restaurant a few blocks away where, instead of takeout, they decided just to eat in since there were three of them now.

"Well, since you made such a big deal out of it, care to tell me about this training of yours?" Hideki grumbled, after the waiter took their orders and left. "Well, this week, Hinata-chan has been improving her byakugan, and we've been doing endurance training." Naruto said. "Really? Any details, Hinata-chan?" Hideki did feel a little curious, and was interested to know what her byakugan could do. "Well…I've improved my vision by a quarter mile. And I've made a little progress in seeing tenketsu." She recalled, nervously. She didn't feel like it was much of a development. "Well. I know pretty much nothing about the byakugan, but I'm sure that any progress is good progress." Hideki offered, which made Hinata feel a little better.

"So. Any idea how this test is gonna be?" Naruto asked. "Not a clue. This kind of situation hasn't happened before, or at least not in my time anyway. And I don't know Mizukage-sama well enough to know what she'd throw at you. If I had to take a guess, I'd say she'd do something that involves stealth, since this _is _the Hidden Mist village and all." Hideki mused. He could see that Naruto was contemplating on how he would go about that.

The rest of the meal passed by casually. They ate their ramen while Naruto complained that it wasn't as good as Ichiraku's. They all had a good laugh at his dismay before Hideki paid for the meal and they left the restaurant. They walked together back to the apartment where they parted ways with Hideki.

"It wasn't as good as old man Teuchi's but it was still filling. I just wanna flop onto bed and pass out now." Naruto groaned as he patted his bloated gut. "That's all you ever do, Naruto-kun. Train, eat, sleep." Hinata teased, though in a sense, she too was doing the exact same thing. They laughed before heading to their respective rooms and going to sleep.

The morning rituals of the next day didn't take very long, because for one thing, Naruto was a little too excited about beginning the next step of his Rasengan training. And so, they were up bright and early, and were out of the apartment within the hour, filled with anticipation and breakfast. They made their way to the training ground, having bought a couple of rubber balls from a toy store on the way.

"Ok. So this step is all about power. I guess I should try and make this explode or something." Naruto said as he picked up a rubber ball. He began to rotate the air inside the ball using chakra, and the ball began to distort. Hinata could see what was happening on the inside, and she was a little confused. There wasn't nearly as much chaos as she had seen previously inside the water balloon. Still, she kept quiet as she watched Naruto work. A few seconds later, he stopped, having applied the same rotation to the ball as he had once used on the water balloon. And then…

Nothing.

The ball just went back to its original shape. "Wha…? What the hell?! That should've worked! Why didn't the ball burst? I did the exact same thing I did yesterday!" Naruto exclaimed. "Try again, Naruto-kun. I'm sure you can do it. I don't really understand what's going on either, but I'm sure you'll figure it out. Don't lose your cool. Remember, it took you six days to get the first step, so be patient, and you'll eventually figure this one out too." Hinata said, which did calm Naruto down.

So, he tried again, while Hinata continued to train hey byakugan. Observing the chakra network was becoming easier now, and she felt that at the current rate they were going, she'd be able to perfect her vision by the end of the second week. But Naruto's training wasn't coming along nearly as steadily. He was working with very little guidance and the fact that the technique was so complex made it all the more difficult. In fact, by the end of the first session, he hadn't made so much as single puncture on the ball, and every time he retried, he got more exhausted. This was seen when he was only able to make a hundred clones for his endurance training.

Hinata wasn't making much progress figuring out the Rasengan either. In theory, Naruto was doing everything correctly. He added more rotations, faster rotations, and on the the third day, the ball did puncture and deflate, but they both new that that result wasn't the right one.

So, at the end of the fourth day, Hinata thought that it might help to start over.

"Naruto-kun. How did you burst the water balloon in the first step?" Hinata asked. "Well. I kinda used my chakra to spin the water out in different directions, until the balloon eventually stretched itself to breaking point." Naruto recalled, as he tried to remember how it felt. "So, what are you trying to do now with the ball that's different?" Hinata continued. "It's harder to grab hold of air using chakra than it is with water. And the air doesn't continue its spin as easily as water does. So I tried making faster rotations but still nothing." Naruto grumbled.

"_Balloon…water…ball…air…" _ Hinata knew that they key was in there somewhere. _"The balloon is a thin membrane when compared to ball. The ball has a thicker, harder, and tougher shell, and doesn't stretch out of shape nearly as much. Water and air…the water keeps spinning on its own because it has greater momentum. It has greater momentum because it has a greater mass than the same volume of air. It has greater mass…because…it's…"_

"Denser!" Hinata exclaimed all of a sudden, which startled Naruto. "Eh? What're you talking about, Hinata-chan?" Naruto asked, feeling thoroughly confused. "Naruto-kun. You can't use the air to burst the ball. Air doesn't have nearly as much power as the water did, and the ball is a much tougher object to break. So you have to use something even more powerful than the fast spinning water!" She finished, understanding, shining in her eyes. Naruto was still clueless. "More powerful than the water? Like what? I can't put anything else in the ball. It's sealed."

"Oh yes you can, Naruto-kun. Chakra! You have to pour in your chakra into the ball, but make it dense like the water. Actually, make it a lot denser. You have to pack in as much chakra as you can into the tiny ball. Understand?" Hinata could see comprehension lighting up in Naruto's eyes.

"I think so. Let me give it a try." Naruto said as picked up a ball. _"Ok. Dense. That means heavy and thick chakra. And I have to pack it all into this tiny ball? That's like trying to force a shadow clone into the ball. Alright. Focus. Focus!" _ He shouted mentally as he began pouring out chakra from his right hand, never letting it go beyond the shape of the ball. It hurt his hand to force so much chakra and try to contain it at the same time. He began adding the rotations to the chakra. He could feel the difference. It was like rotating the water again. But it wasn't as heavy. That meant that the chakra wasn't dense enough. So he poured in even more.

The pain was really starting to get to him. He grunted, but forged on. The ball felt heavier than the balloon now. This was it! Just one more push! And…

BANG!

The ball exploded in a burst of chakra, which sent Naruto flying backwards. He tumbled and skidded several yards across the ground, while Hinata was thrown back several feet as well. She tumbled to a stop first, and she saw Naruto grind to a halt several yards away. "NARUTO-KUN! Oh no! What happened?!" She tried not to panic as she picked herself up and ran towards him. He lay in a dirt covered heap on the ground, passed out.

"_Oh! His hand is…burnt! Did he really pour out that much chakra? Does this mean that this technique harms the user as well? Oh that doesn't matter now! I have to get him home." _She thought to herself as she picked him and slung him over her shoulder with a little effort. _"He isn't as heavy as I thought. Where does all that ramen go then?" _She thought to herself absently, with a little giggle. She was worried about him, but she figured that he would be fine in the morning. He always did heal fast.

Once they got home, she didn't really know what do with him. She couldn't just strip him off and throw him into the shower. But he was a little dirty. In the end, she decided that she should just let him sleep and she'd take care of the dirt later. So she laid him down on his bed, and left to take a shower of her own. _"Just one more step to go, Naruto-kun. We have four days left before we begin the next stage of our training. So he has to get it done in four days. Then we can start our senbon training and teamwork and stealth."_

She finished up her shower and helped herself to a quick dinner before going to sleep.

True to Hinata's expectations, Naruto was completely healed up by morning, though she hadn't the faintest idea why. "How are you feeling, Naruto-kun? Is your hand all better?" Hinata asked while they were having breakfast. "My hand? Why? Did something happen to me?" Naruto asked, feeling confused as he looked his hand over. "You don't remember? You burned your hand because you forced way too much chakra, Naruto-kun." Hinata reminded him. "Really? Wow. I don't remember anything between the ball exploding and waking up. I must've really been out of it. You brought me home, Hinata-chan? Thanks!" He gave her a grin which showed Hinata that he really was fine.

"Alright! On to the final step!" He exclaimed as finished of his breakfast. His enthusiasm never quit, and it was rubbing off on Hinata. She put away the dishes quickly and joined him at the coffee table as he opened up the scroll once again

"Step three is about control. Use plain balloon." That was all that Jiraiya had written.

"That's it? I'm supposed to bust up a balloon? I've done it with a water balloon, and I know how to use chakra to break the tougher rubber ball. So now I'm just supposed to use chakra to bust the regular balloon? Isn't that like…too easy?" Naruto said as he scratched the back of his head, trying to make sense of it. "No, Naruto-kun. I don't think that's it. Look here. It says that this step is about control. I think you're supposed to learn to control your chakra so that it _doesn't _pop the balloon." Hinata explained. "Eh!? But there's so much power and crazy spinning going on. Now I'm supposed to do all that, and control it? The hell?" Naruto exclaimed as he grabbed the scroll to see if there was some sort of mistake.

"I think that that's what makes this technique so special, Naruto-kun. There's so much power, and if you can control all of it, then I'm sure that the end result will be amazing." Hinata reassured him. "Oh alright. Let's go buy some more balloons, Hinata-chan." He grumbled as he picked up his pack.

Twenty minutes later, they were back at their usual training spot. Naruto inflated a balloon, and stared at it in his hand, as if waiting for it to tell him what to do. He looked at Hinata, who was patiently waiting for him to get started. Eventually, he got started. He poured in the chakra, just like the day before, all the while spinning it with his other hand. More and more…until…

POP!

"Eh!? That wasn't even half as much chakra as yesterday! What gives?!" He yelled out. "Maybe that's why it's hard, Naruto-kun. You shouldn't let the chakra touch the balloon. Try again. I'm sure you'll get it. Go slower this time." Hinata suggested, though she knew that this would be a long _long _shot. "Fine." Naruto grumbled, already starting to get frustrated. Hinata stepped back and started her own usual training as Naruto picked up the next balloon.

The result was the same. No matter he slow he went, the balloon would burst. In fact, they ran out of balloons an hour before noon. "I don't understand it. This is impossible!" Naruto exclaimed as the last balloon burst. "I'm sure that there's some way to do it. We'll figure it out, Naruto-kun. We still have three more days." Hinata was trying to helpful, but she had been observing his chakra during the entire session, and even she couldn't see how he would manage to control it.

So, they decided to start the next part of their training early. Naruto was able to easily create three hundred clones to spar with and Hinata could see beyond two and a quarter miles easily. Almost at half a mile now.

By the end of the second week of the almost the exact same routine, Naruto had made no progress on the rasengan. But he was able to create four hundred clones for sparring, and Hinata's byakugan vision was now perfected. She could easily see all the tenketsu, and she could see everything within a two and a half mile radius.

The two were packing up their things to head back from the final day of the first stage of their training, when Naruto pulled something out of his pack. "Huh. An extra balloon. I didn't even know this was in here. Maybe I can give it one more shot." He mumbled as Hinata stopped her work and approached him.

She watched as he gathered chakra into his right hand, and began rotating it with his left. She knew that he was supposed to hold it in a perfect sphere if he were to save the last balloon. _"If only there was some way this could work. If Naruto-kun could show this to the Mizukage, I'm sure she'll be impressed. Naruto-kun is using one hand to hold the chakra and the other to spin it. The balloon is already beginning to distort. It's only a matter of seconds before it explodes again. If only he had one more…hand…!" _Hinata's eyes shot wide open as inspiration took hold of her once again. It was worth a shot. She raised her hands and held her palms over the balloon.

"Hinata-chan? What are you doing?" Naruto asked, confused and stopped his technique. "Don't stop, Naruto-kun. Keep going." She focused her chakra and imagined a perfect round sphere in her head, and almost willed her chakra to take that form. "Naruto-kun! Keep going!" She said a bit louder this time, and it snapped him out of his confusion. He trusted her, and so he kept going. More and more, he poured in the chakra until he could feel the weight of it. The balloon was distorting wildly. Almost at breaking point now. And then…

It slowed at first. And then stopped completely. Naruto could still feel the weight of the chakra in his hand, so the technique hadn't dissipated. Now he was utterly clueless. "Hinata-chan. What's going on? What happened?" He asked. "I was watching you this whole time, Naruto-kun. You needed one hand to add the chakra, and your other to rotate it. You would've needed another hand to hold the perfect spherical shape. That's why you couldn't do it by yourself. You don't have the necessary level of chakra control to do this by yourself, so I thought I could help out. Do one of the steps _for _you. And I think it worked. I can see the chakra in the balloon, and it's not slowing down, even though you've stopped adding and rotating it. Now, you just need to hold the shape, Naruto-kun. Try it." Hinata finished.

She was right. The rasengan was almost…self-sustaining right now. Now, Naruto was free to do the last step. He focused his chakra into a spherical shell, and was surprised at how easily he could control his chakra. Rasengan training had definitely improved his chakra control. There were a few bumps on the balloon as Hinata took her hands away, but Naruto quickly sorted it out. After a moment, he was holding the balloon in his hand, by himself, and it hadn't even twitched. Yet he could feel the tempest of chakra in it. He grabbed a kunai, and gently prodded the balloon, so that it burst away.

Finally, he could see the fruits of his labor. He had learned the rasengan. In his hand was a bright blue sphere that was spinning rapidly in every direction. It gave off a brilliant glow because of the amount of pure chakra that was concentrated into such a small and powerful form. "This is it. The rasengan. Time to try it out." He spotted a fairly thick looking tree nearby, and walked towards it. Halfway there, he began to run. Three quarters of the way there, and he was sprinting full speed. Closer and closer…until…

"RASENGAN!" He slammed the orb into the tree, and could immediately feel the power. The age old tree may as well have been made of paper. The rasengan ripped through it with ease. The power was such that just a few seconds of contact, and the trunk of the tree literally exploded, sending splinters everywhere. The tree didn't even have time to fall down before it was blown up and away from Naruto because of the sheer force of the rasengan. With a thunderous crash, the tree fell to the earth, kicking up a huge cloud of dust. A few seconds later, one blonde ninja with a cheeky grin on his whisker-marked face walked out of the dust. He ran towards Hinata who was awestruck by the power now held by her crush.

And if she was shocked before, it was nothing compared to how she felt when he grabbed her in a bearhug and spun her around. She blushed furiously the instant she snapped out of her daze. "Na…Naruto-kun!" She exclaimed. He laughed as he set her down and stared into her eyes, grin still in place.

"Hahahaha! We did it, Hinata-chan! WE DID IT!"

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A/N: I feel like I rushed through that chapter a bit, so I'm sorry if it felt that way to you guys, as well. I did enjoy writing this one though. Anyway, expect the next chapter to be delayed as well, though hopefully not by as much. Exams are still not over, guys. Sorry :/


	12. A Day Off

A/N: Chapter 12! Yay! This one was a lot of fun to write, and you might notice a little OOC from Hinata but I really like it when she's not the usual timid and quiet, so it's a nice change, if you ask me.

I wanna take this opportunity to thank you guys for being patient with me through my exams, and lack of updates. I started with uploading a chapter every two days, but I had to give time to other things as well, and now I've found a comfortable one chapter every four days or so, rate. I can't even remember how long it has been since I last published, but anyone doing edexcel exams would hopefully understand.

In light of all that, take this chapter by it's title and hopefully it'll help you guys unwind and maybe let out a chuckle or two. Enjoy.

Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto.

* * *

**A Day Off**

Naruto was the first to wake up as usual on the next day. He didn't waste time laying around, because to him, a minute in bed could've been a minute of training. He went about with his usual morning routine, and was soon at the table, waiting for Hinata-chan so that he could have breakfast with her.

Five minutes later, she came out of her own room, dressed in the same slack pants and t-shirt that she slept in. "Good morning, Hinata-chan. Ready for some new training?" Naruto asked, unable to contain his excitement. "Umm…actually, Naruto-kun…we…can't train today." Hinata replied softly. "Eh? Why not?!" Naruto exclaimed, feeling distraught about not being able to train. "Well…we don't have any clean clothes…" Hinata replied. "Seriously?! Aw man!" Naruto groaned, dropping his head onto the table.

Hinata giggled a little at his reaction as she opened the fridge to grab a carton of milk. "Actually…we can't do anything today. We're out of food too." This really got Naruto's attention. "What!? First no training, now no _food?! _I'll diiiieee!" He moaned pathetically.

Hinata found his exaggerated reaction adorable, and couldn't help but smile. "Why don't we take a day off, Naruto-kun? Go shopping for food, and maybe some clothes too." Hinata suggested as she sat at the table with a half empty milk carton and the last box of cereal. "Guess we have no choice." Naruto grumbled as he helped himself to a bowl of cereal. "It'll be fun, Naruto-kun." Hinata certainly was looking forward to shopping. Maybe it was a girl thing…

Half an hour later, they were out of the apartment. They decided that they should buy some clothes first, and since they hardly knew where…_anything…_was in the Mist village, they ended up just wandering around. They passed a park where some civilians were having their morning jogs, and kids were enjoying the early morning calm with their parents.

"Sigh…Where do we go first, Hinata-chan?" Naruto mumbled. "Don't sound so glum, Naruto-kun. We're going to buy some new clothes first. You'll have fun. Trust me." Hinata was being unusually enthusiastic about the whole day, though Naruto was oblivious.

Soon, they arrived at a department store where Hinata led the way inside. There were only a few people in the store since it was still somewhat early in the day. Naruto followed behind quietly, while Hinata was already rummaging through the racks. In a couple of minutes, she threw some pants at Naruto, and pointed to a door off to the side. "Go see if those fit." Naruto just blinked. Hinata was speaking with authority that left no room for questioning. This was _so _unlike her. _"What's up with Hinata-chan? I've never seen her so…in charge…and comfortable at the same time."_

With a bored sigh, Naruto made his way to the changing room. A minute later, he stepped out wearing the new black pants. They were more like formal evening wear, and he felt that they wouldn't be too practical in a field situation. Plus, it was a long way away from his normal orange. "That looks really nice, Naruto-kun. It's good that you're going to have some nice clothes to wear, and not just your usual training clothes." Hinata commented.

"Fine. You know what. Since you get to pick out these clothes, we're gonna buy some new training gear after this, and I'm gonna pick what _you_ wear." Naruto replied, as he headed back into the changing room to change back. Hinata was _very _thankful for this, because she was very busy turning beet red at the idea that he had suggested.

Two hours later, they had left the store, having bought three outfits each. Hinata was looking as though she'd won some prize or something. Her happiness was so infectious that Naruto couldn't help but be happy as well. At least she was smiling and having a good time. "So…any idea where they might sell training gear?" Naruto asked, scratching the back of his head. "Naruto-kun. You know as well as I do that I'm just as new to this village as you are. So was there really any point in you asking that?" Hinata teased. "Sure there was. I like talking to you, Hinata-chan." He replied bluntly, which brought the red hue back onto Hinata's face. "Um…ok…thank you…?" She replied unsurely. She really didn't know what to make of such an outright compliment.

"Why are you thanking me, Hinata-chan? That's weird. Oh never mind. This looks like a good place to start." He said as they walked up to a store that had some ninja weapons on display. _"Weird? He thinks I'm weird again…aaaahhhh! And everything was going so well! And now I'm back to being weird! Stupid stupid stupid!" _Hinata internally berated herself as she hung her head and stared at her feet as they made their way into the store.

She was absentmindedly browsing the racks when Naruto called out to her from somewhere in the store. She turned in his direction to see him decked out in all black, tugging on his shirt. It was complete turnaround from his usual orange, and for a few seconds, Hinata didn't know how to respond. He was wearing black training pants, and a skin tight, long-sleeved sweater. Though the sweater was black and thick, Hinata could see the results of his training quite clearly.

As far as she could tell, every muscle in his body was toned to near perfection. Being twelve years old didn't stop him from training like a beast and it certainly didn't stop him from having bulges on his shoulders, and down his arms. His abs were perfectly flat, and Hinata knew that there were clear definitions of a six-pack hidden underneath the thick sweater. The only thing that seemed bright and colorful now were his yellow hair and brilliant eyes. "Whatcha think?" He turned on the spot, giving her the full view. "Oh! I like these as well. They remind me of Kakashi-sensei." He grabbed a pair of fingerless gloves in mid-turn and slipped them on as well, completing his transformation.

"W...Wow!" That was all Hinata managed to say, as she felt the blood rush to her face. She would've thought that it'd be impossible for her to find him more attractive than before. How wrong she was. "Really? You like it?" Naruto asked, flexing and shuffling a bit, getting comfortable in his new outfit. "Y…Yea…I really…really like it. But Na…Naruto-kun. What about…what about your usual orange?" She was stammering again. Oh how she hated herself for stammering just because Naruto-kun looked more…attractive.

"Eh? You're stuttering again, Hinata-chan. Why? And your face is all red too." He commented as he approached her, and leaned towards her. This only served to turn her even redder, as he was now inches away from her, and she could see his muscles much more clearly. "I think I'm gonna ditch the orange. I only wore it back in Konoha because I wanted a little attention. I don't need it anymore. Besides. Black is more practical for a ninja. Unless it snows." He said nonchalantly and thoughtfully at the same time. Hinata was still reeling from the close proximity as he walked back to the changing room to change back. She used the couple of minutes he took, to collect herself. _"Oh what in the world just happened?! I stuttered again! Why me?!" _She hung her head in embarrassment at letting herself get so caught up just because Naruto-kun was a little muscular. She quickly banished the thoughts and returned to browsing before she could have another episode.

Naruto came out of the dressing room, and proceeded to pick out four more sets of the outfit except the gloves. He set them aside and came over to join Hinata who was browsing the girls section. "Your turn, Hinata-chan." He said as he picked out an outfit similar to his own and handed it to her. "H…Hai, Naruto-kun." She took the outfit from him and went to change. She took a couple minutes longer than he did, and after a while, she stepped out of the changing room.

Her sweater wasn't as skin tight as his, and she was thankful for that, though whether he picked it out on purpose or by sheer chance, she didn't know. Naruto looked at her with a frown, as if he didn't like what he was seeing. Hinata's heart plummeted at the thought and her hands reflexively moved to cover herself up.

"Take off the jacket." Naruto said bluntly. "Wha…what?" His words didn't register in her mind. He couldn't have said that. "Take off your jacket, Hinata-chan. You don't need it." He repeated.

There was a reason that Hinata always wore the big bulky jacket. She was insecure. She never felt confident about her body, so she always hid it away from everyone. She felt that she didn't have any attractive features like other girls did. Ino and Sakura were never afraid to show themselves off, and everyone always thought that they were pretty. No one ever thought that Hinata was pretty. "I…I can't." She stuttered in almost a whisper. "Come on, Hinata-chan. Please?" Naruto pleaded. Hinata just stared at him, as her mind raced through all the different outcomes of rejection she was about to face. She was frozen in place as he got up and walked towards her. He grabbed both her hands and looked into her shocked eyes. "I promise I won't say anything mean." It was a simple promise, but it was reassuring. Just a bit, though.

Still, she hung her head, and slowly unzipped her jacket. She shrugged it off, never looking at Naruto-kun who was standing just a few feet away. She let her jacket fall, and shut her eyes tight, waiting for Naruto-kun to laugh at her, or worse, dismiss her as nothing special. But it never came. Instead…

"I always thought you wore a big jacket because you had a fat belly or something. I mean, girls are embarrassed about that kinda thing, right? I've seen Ino and Sakura argue about who was thinner and other girly things. I guess they didn't know that Hinata-chan had the best figure in our class. You're in really nice shape, Hinata-chan. You're not all skin and bones like Ino, and you're not fat either. You're like the perfect balance between the two." Naruto finished his appraisal with his usual grin.

Hinata's eyes shot open as her head snapped up to look at him. _"Did he really just say that I had the best figure? Does he think that I'm prettier than Ino and Sakura? He's had a mad crush on Sakura for as long as I can remember. And everybody goes on and on about Ino. But Naruto-kun thinks I'm better than both of them?" _Her mouth had dropped open a little as she tried to make sense of his words. "Do you really mean that…Naruto-kun?" The moment the question left her lips, she wished she could take it back. What if he didn't mean it? What if he was just trying to be nice? What if he was just saying it because he promised? She may have been better off not knowing.

"Course I do. You know I never say anything without meaning it. You look really nice Hinata-chan." Naruto finished with a puzzled look on his face. "I…well…thank you, Naruto-kun." Hinata replied timidly, still feeling a little exposed. She changed back into her usual clothes, and put the jacket back on. She picked out five similar outfits for herself as well. They also picked out a pair of belts with some pockets on them for storing weapons, and they left the store.

"Ok. We have clothes. What now, Hinata-chan?" Naruto asked as he held up the bags. "I guess we can go buy food and other supplies now. But maybe we should take these home first." She suggested as she held up her own bags. "No problem." Naruto said with a cheeky grin. He set his bags on the ground and made his signature sign. "Kagebunshin no Jutsu!" Two clones popped into existence in a puff of smoke, picked up the bags, and headed back to the apartment. "Having Naruto-kun around is so handy." Hinata said with a giggle, while Naruto grinned a smug looking grin.

The rest of their morning went by fairly quickly. They bought another two weeks supply of food, and some other essentials, _including_ detergent, that they were running low on, or had none of. By the time Naruto had sent the last of his clones back to the apartment, it was an hour past noon, or more accurately, half an hour past lunch time for Naruto. A fact that his stomach made sure to loudly and repeatedly remind him of. A little more wandering around, and they found the place where they had gotten ramen the last time. They would've tried somewhere new, but Naruto wanted ramen again, and at least he was sure that this place would have it. They ate a quick lunch, and left exact change with the bill and left the restaurant.

"Hey, Hinata-chan. How much money do we still have?" Naruto asked as he patted his now satisfied stomach. Hinata counted in her head how much they'd spent in the last two weeks, how much they had stored away back in the apartment, and how much she was carrying with her right now. "We've got a little under half of what we came here with. We didn't spend much in the first two weeks, but we spent a lot today, so we'll have to be careful until we can start taking missions." Naruto frowned a bit, but quickly broke out into a smile. "Ah we'll be alright. We'll manage something, somehow." His words made Hinata smile as well. He could always cheer anyone up. Especially her.

"So. What do we do for the rest of the day?" Naruto asked. "Naruto-kun. We've only been walking for about ten minutes. Are you…bored? Are you bored of me?" Hinata asked, depression suddenly building up in her. "No no no…it's nothing like that. It's just that…back in Konoha…whenever I have free time and energy, I run around pranking people. I could always get away with it because old man Hokage always let me off. But…I don't think that the Mizukage will be as nice. Especially since I'm new here. And I don't even know anyone here. Well…except Hideki." Naruto explained, his eyes showing just the tiniest glint of mischief. "Naruto-kun…are you _really _thinking of pranking the only friend we have in this village?" Hinata asked, a nervous tone present in her voice.

"Maybe? Wanna join me?" He looked at her with a full grin, and his bright blue eyes sparkling now. "Please tell me you're joking, Naruto-kun. And even if you aren't, the answer is no. In fact, you shouldn't even be asking me to join. I should be telling you to stop." Hinata was almost scolding him now, at which point Naruto had a devious little idea. "Aw you're no fun Hinata-chan. Even that lazyass Shikamaru loved to pull a prank once in a while." Naruto teased, and that turned out to be Hinata's breaking point. "Excuse me?! I am _too_ fun! I know how to have fun. And there is NO way that I am less fun than Shikamaru-kun." Hinata huffed. She was a little stung by his teasing, and was determined not to let him get the last word in. "Yea? Prove it. Join me." Naruto was almost challenging her now.

Normally, Hinata would never be the one to take part in petty challenges. She would always be quiet and observe from a distance. But that was the Hinata that lived in Konoha. Though she had only been gone less than a month, she was quickly reshaping herself as a person that was more open to everything. Or perhaps she was simply spending too much time with Naruto-kun and getting caught up in his competitiveness. Either way…

"Fine! What do you want me to do?" She declared sharply. "Excellent! We need a pet store, so can you find one using your byakugan?" Naruto asked, feeling excited as the plan began to take shape in his head. "Easy. Byakugan!" Hinata activated her dojutsu and did a quick scan of the area. "There's one about five blocks away, in that direction." She pointed off to her left. She was clearly getting too far caught up into it to even think about why she was doing what she was doing. Just how Naruto wanted it. "Perfect! Let's go, Hinata-chan." He said, grabbing her by the wrist and taking off down the street.

A few minutes later, they were leaving the store with a small bagful of catnip, and headed towards Hideki's apartment. "Watch this, Hinata-chan." Naruto said as two shadow clones puffed into existence. Naruto gave the bag to one of them and sent them off. As Hinata watched, one of the shadow clones walked up the wall using chakra while the other rang the bell for Hideki. A few seconds later, he opened the door, and clone number two looked like he was asking some questions, as far as Hinata could tell.

Meanwhile, clone number one was busy sprinkling catnip onto Hideki's hair. Hinata hadn't reacted to any of this, and was just waiting to see what would happen. Then, as she was watching, the clone that was talking disappeared, and the second one dropped down behind the unsuspecting Hideki.

And gave him a swift kick in the butt.

Hideki face-planted into the dirt. "Was that really necessary, Naruto-kun?" Hinata scolded. "It's the only way I could think of to get him to chase me. This is where the fun really begins. Just wait and watch." Naruto's eyes shone as he spoke. At the same time, Hideki was already on his feet and chasing the Naruto clone. "Come on, Hinata-chan. We're going to follow them from the rooftops." Naruto grabbed her hand again as he sprinted up the wall with Hinata in tow.

The couple watched the disgruntled chunin chase the clone through the streets and as many alleyways as possible. What Hideki didn't know was that every time he left an alley, two or three cats were tailing him. About half an hour of running around, and the clone finally ran into a dead end. "I've got you now, brat. Nowhere to run." Hideki said with false malicious intent. So, he was very much surprised when Naruto just turned back to him, stuck his tongue out, and vanished in a puff of smoke.

"That's where you're wrong, Hideki! _I've _got _you. _Congratulations! You are the first Mist Ninja to be pranked by The Great Uzumaki Naruto, and my lovely assistant, Lady Hyuga Hinata!" It took a few seconds for Hideki to find the blond head yelling down from the rooftop. "What the hell are you talking about, brat?!" Hideki shouted back.

"You take this one, Hinata-chan. You've earned the right to deliver the punch line." Naruto grinned at her. "Hideki-saaaannn! Look behind you!" She shouted down at him, already seeing the procession of twenty or so cats filing into the alleyway.

"What?!" Hideki exclaimed and turned on his heel to face an onrushing horde. Of cats. He looked back at the couple, who were smiling and waving. The next thing that followed were screams as Hideki disappeared under a mountain of cats.

The two genin burst out laughing at the sight, so much so that their knees buckled and eventually, the two of them fell flat onto the roof top, side by side. Naruto turned his head towards her, famous grin lighting up his face. "Whatcha think, Hinata-chan?" He asked. "I wonder why it never occurred to Hideki-san to use his ninja skills to get away. He should've been able to detect your presence back at his place, and he should've easily been able to get up onto this rooftop as well." Hinata mused, as she rubbed the tears out of her eyes. "That's the thing about pranks, Hinata-chan. The element of surprise is my best weapon. It can totally throw even the most experienced ninja off his game." Naruto explained, letting a bit of pride leak into his voice. "I guess that's true. Ok, you were right Naruto-kun. Pranking is fun." Hinata conceded.

"Speak for yourself." Came a disgruntled voice. The two looked up to see a very messed up Hideki standing over them. His face had a few scratches on it, but nothing worse than that. However, it was his hair that really caught their attention. There were bits of fur of all colors strewn in his hair, which was already sticking out every which way. But what stuck out the most was a small bald patch on the crown of his head. The two couldn't help themselves at the point, and burst out in a fresh wave of laughter, literally rolling on the roof laughing themselves to tears.

"Finished yet?" Hideki grumbled as he sat down. "Yea, I guess so. You're not going to kill us now, are you?" Naruto asked as he sat himself up. "Not really. I can appreciate a good prank once in a while. Though I never really expected Hinata-chan to be the type for this kind of thing." Hideki said. "Naruto-kun convinced me." Hinata replied as she twiddled her thumbs, feeling a little embarrassed, but she wouldn't deny herself that she had fun. "Yea yea, sure. You know what this means, right? This means that you've just signed yourselves up to get pranked back. Oh you know that's right. I'll get you guys back for this eventually." He threatened halfheartedly. "Sure, but in the meantime, you might wanna wear a hat." Naruto pointed to the bald spot Hideki's head and burst out laughing again.

"How the hell did your sensei in Konoha deal with you?!" Hideki grumbled as he reached and felt the spot on his head. However, he was more surprised by the sudden silence that came from Naruto. "Did I say something wrong?" He asked, feeling a little concerned now. "Back in Konoha…Iruka-sensei was the one I pulled all these pranks on. Most of them anyway…but now…Iruka-sensei…is dead. He died…protecting Konoha…during the invasion." Naruto had gone from complete mirth to melancholy in five seconds. "Oh. I'm sorry, Naruto. I didn't know." Hideki looked at Naruto as he spoke, but the boy was looking at the clouds now. "It's ok. Iruka-sensei died the death of a champion. A hero. A legend. He died to protect that which he considered most precious. So did a lot of others. But Konoha surrendered anyway so that they could prevent more deaths. I'm not going to let it be this way. I'm…_We're _going to free Konoha and honor the deaths of all those who gave their lives for Konoha and its people. Right, Hinata-chan." Naruto looked at Hinata who was still settling into the sudden change of atmosphere of the conversation.

"R-Right. We promised that we would be the ones to free Konoha. And we don't go back on our word." Hinata said in a soft and firm voice, which made Naruto smile.

"Because that is our Nindo. Our ninja way." He said, looking into her eyes, his own filled with determination of steel.

The three of them just sat there for a moment, and let the words sink in. After a while, it was Hideki who spoke up. "That's good to hear, but how're you going to do it?" He asked. "We're going to train and become strong enough to take them down. We might need some extra help, but we'll figure it out. For now, we just have to pass the Mizukage's exams." Naruto spoke up. "Yea speaking of that, how's that coming along, anyway? I'm sorry I haven't dropped by, but I've been away on an escort mission." Hideki noticed that Naruto was grinning his smug grin again. "We finished our endurance training, and I'd say we've got about fifty percent more chakra and better chakra control than when we got here. Hinata-chans byakugan can see everything now, and I can't wait to see her put it to use in a good fight. Oh and I've learned a secret technique that I can only show you during the exams, so you better show up. Tomorrow, we're going to start training with senbon needles. Do you know anyone who could help out?" Naruto asked Hideki.

"Yea." He replied with a smirk. "Who?" Naruto was getting excited about learning new things from a sensei again. "Me." Hideki said. There was a moment of silence. "You? You're kidding, aren't you?" Naruto paled. He had just pranked maybe the only person in the village who could and _would _train him. Hideki grinned deviously at Naruto's horrified expression, but didn't reply. Instead, he reached into his pocket and pulled out a piece of paper, crumpled it up, and threw it into the air. He pulled out a needle from one of his weapons pouches and let fly. The needle came down and landed right next to Naruto with the paper ball skewered through it. "Oh…shit…" Was all Naruto could say. "Um…Hideki-san…we're…sorry for pranking you…will you…train us…please?" Hinata asked in a timid and nervous tone.

Now it was Hideki's turn to burst out laughing, not because of Hinata's words, but at Naruto's expression. He had gone very pale, almost as pale as Hinata, and he was just staring at the needle, with a defeated look on his face. "Dammit. You win Hideki." He conceded. "That's more like it, Naruto. And sure, I'll train you. But you _will _have to refer to me as sensei." Hideki replied, relishing the new challenge, and the new respect that he was forcing out of Naruto. "Fine." Naruto grumbled, while Hinata just looked away in embarrassment.

"We'll train with senbon every morning till noon, and the rest of the day, you can spend doing whatever else you plan on doing. Sound fair?" Hideki offered. He may as well play nice now, since he'd gotten one over on Naruto. "Yea." Naruto mumbled. "What was that?" Hideki teased. "Yes…Sensei." Naruto swallowed his pride and his desire to train and become stronger won out. "Very good. We start tomorrow morning, at the same training ground where you guys have been training for the past few weeks, ok? I'll see you there. Don't be late." Hideki finished seriously as he got up to leave, presumably to take a shower…or get a haircut.

* * *

A/N: There you have it. Firstly, I have to admit that I didn't come up with the prank myself. It's actually from another fanfic I read recently, can't remember which one, but it was very brief, just one sentence I think, so I elaborated on it a bit. So, credits to...whoever it was that originally came up with this, because I can't remember for the life of me...also, what goes around, comes around, eh? :D

**IMPORTANT ANNOUNCEMENT**: Big news, guys, as indicated by the all capital letters. I finish my A'level examinations on Thursday the 20th of June, and I will be flying off to Malaysia, at the ungodly hours of Friday morning...around 3am-ish. This is a big transitional phase in my life, because I am shifting my ENTIRE LIFE to another country, where I will start college education in October. I'm telling you this because I'm going to be spending a lot of time settling into a new place with my family, so lots of work, very little time to think about writing. So once everything is all neat and tidy and calm, I will have a couple of months with very little to do, so I will be able to write more freely again. I know that this is becoming a trend, me asking you guys to wait weeks for every update, but I hope that you guys will keep your faith in me, and not abandon the story, because I assure you that this story WILL have an ending.

And finally, thank you all for your reviews. Please keep leaving reviews, because that is my major motivation to write. I've gotten over 13k hits for this story I think, but what's most important to me are all you reviewers, and followers, and...favoriters? You get the point...I DO read every single review, and I do consider your opinions as long as they're not outright bashing the story. Ok. Rant over. Cya later guys.

Stay awsum!


	13. The First Test

A/N: YAY! Next chapter! I still don't have as much time to write as I'd like but hopefully, I'll be able to give it more time than I have in the past month. Thank you guys for being patient with me.

* * *

**The First Test**

The next two weeks went by fairly routinely, as far as training was concerned. At the end of it, they had become proficient enough to use the needles in combat _very _effectively. The two genin also managed to come up with some interesting new techniques to use with the senbon that actually impressed Hideki a fair amount.

And now, the day of the first exam was here. Naruto and Hinata were making their way to the Mizukage's office, accompanied by Hideki who promised them that he would keep tabs on them throughout the whole exam. To the two, it felt nice knowing that there was someone watching over them.

The entered the Mizukage's chambers when the assistant motioned for them, and greeted the Mizukage with full bows.

"Good morning, you three. Nice to see you're on time. You're off to a good start then." Mei greeted them kindly. "Thank you, Mizukage-sama. And a pleasant morning to you as well." Hinata returned the greeting politely. That was when the smile disappeared off Mei's face, and was replaced with a serious stare.

"Let's not waste time then. You two will be taking a two part test that I have planned out for you personally. This will test you in all the skills you will require as a ninja of the Mist. I will not reveal to you the exact areas on which you will be evaluated, but I tell will you this; Mist ninja pride themselves on their stealth and efficiency. You will do well to keep that in mind." Mei said as the three ninja before her straightened themselves up. "Understood, Mizukage-sama." The two genin replied, while Hideki took a small step back. "Very good. Now then. The first part of your test…" Mei said as she reached into one of her desk drawers and pulled out a thin file. "…is a mission." She explained as she set the file down on the table. "Not a real mission. A faux mission, if you will. You will be given instructions, an objective, and there _will _be enemy opposition. However, the "enemy" will be ninjas of this village, so everyone involved in this part of the exam is prohibited from using deadly force. Whosoever breaks this rule, I will kill them myself. Understood?" Mei explained, ending the last bit with a pleasant smile. Naruto and Hinata shared a confused and scared look before turning back to the Mizukage. "U-Understood, Mizukage-sama." They gulped nervously.

"Good. Now, you may read the file." Mei gestured towards the file as Naruto stepped forward. He picked up the file and the first thing he noticed was that it wasn't very thick. He slowly opened the file, and pulled out the solitary sheet that was in it. It read:

"A scroll containing vital top secret information regarding the ninja system of the Village Hidden in the Mist has been stolen by enemy ninja, last seen fifteen miles due north of the village, one day before. Retrieval of this scroll is of utmost importance to the entire village. If possible, do not alert the enemy of your presence. Caution is advised."

Naruto had a confused look on his face as he finished reading from the scroll. He flipped it over to see if he had missed anything on the back of it, but it was blank. He held it up to a light to see if there was something in hidden ink, but again, nothing. He turned to the Mizukage who was observing them. "That's it? That's all the intel that we have to go on?" He asked incredulously. "Very good. You did notice that your information is limited, so I commend you on that. However, what you said is true. That is all the information that can be provided for you at this time." Mei explained, propping her head on her hands. "We know nothing about the enemy. We don't know how many there are, what skill level they are at, nor what condition they are in. All we know is that they're fifteen miles away and they have a day's head start." Hinata spoke up as she read through the document, wondering if there was anything Naruto had missed in the text. But there wasn't any.

"Yes. As I said before, this is a test, and as such, I have designed this to test your skills to their limits. But if you pass this test, I promise you that your actual missions will be given to you with full information." Mei clarified for the two. Naruto and Hinata shared a long look before they both nodded to each other, and turned to face the Mizukage. "When can we begin, Mizukage-sama?" Naruto asked, determination settling into his voice again. "Right away, if you can. The report did say that they're already fifteen miles and a day ahead of you." Mei replied. "Understood, Mizukage-sama." Naruto and Hinata exclaimed in unison, before bowing to the Mizukage, and quickly taking their leave.

"You've been with them for the past two weeks. How do you think they'll fare, Hideki?" Mei asked Hideki who had stayed behind. "I can't be sure. I have a feeling that while I was with them, they were hiding a huge portion of their true ability from me." He replied thoughtfully. "And what do you think of the ability that you _did _see?" Mei asked.

"Honestly…" Hideki sighed. "Based on what little I saw, Hinata is without a doubt, _the _best recon ninja we have in this village below jonin level. She is a brilliant spy, and though she's quiet on the outside, she has tremendous tactical wit and ability. And that idiot Naruto. Oh boy. He doesn't look like it, but that boy has power. Raw and untamed, but power. He's got the chakra capacity that goes _far _beyond your own, but he hasn't tapped into it. I can tell." Mei's eyes bulged at the bold statement. "And what evidence do you have to support such a statement?"

Hideki looked into the eyes of the Mizukage. "That boy can make four hundred shadow clones and utilize them for brutal combat for at least ten minutes without breaking a sweat." He replied flatly. At this point, to say that Mei was shocked would've been an understatement. It took her well over a minute to process what she had just heard. "I'm not sure I heard you correctly. Repeat what you said." She said after her long pause. "With all due respect, Mizukage-sama, you heard me correctly. Naruto can easily create an army for himself and use it to overpower any single enemy. And I believe that this is just scratching the surface."

The Mizukage was stunned. Just what had she stumbled upon?! Two genin who could easily outclass every other genin, and maybe even some chunin of her own village, just wandered into her village and wanted to serve under her. They were only twelve years old. Imagine the possibilities…with some training and experience, those two could easily become the strongest pair in the country. She took a moment to collect herself before she spoke again. "Forgive me, but I find myself still a bit skeptical." She said. "Understandable. May I say something, Mizukage-sama?" Hideki asked, to which Mei nodded. "You just gave those two a mission to retrieve information vital to our security from an enemy of unknown number and strength. As far as they know, they might have to face down one, or one hundred enemy ninja, one to all of which could be jonin level or beyond. These are very trying circumstances designed to test them to their limit, and as such, I would guess that a real mission of this nature would be A-rank, or even S-rank depending on the information that was stolen, correct?" Hideki kept his expression blank during his little speech.

"Yes. Due to the lack of intel, and the nature of the information stolen, this mission does merit an S-rank." Mei raised her eyebrows, questioning where Hideki was going with this. She was surprised to see him break out of his blank expression into a smug grin.

"Those two will breeze through this first exam." He declared boldly and it was clear that he believed what he said.

…

Meanwhile, outside of the Mist village, Naruto and Hinata were already half a mile away from the village, and making good time. It was still early in the day, and they were already stocked up on weapons when they got to the Mizukage. They just had to purchase some provisions on their way to the gate, before quickly taking off into the woods, not even bothering to stick to the path.

"Can you see anything, Hinata-chan?" Naruto asked as he leaped through the branches. "No sign of any people. That just means that they're more than two and a half miles ahead of us. They may or may not be moving, and we only have a chance to catch them if they stop to rest. And we can't be sure which direction they went in, so we can't use pursuit tactics. We need to track them down first." Hinata instructed, using her byakugan to scan the surrounding forest for signs of recent human presence. "Right. I'm on it. Kagebunshin-no-jutsu!" Naruto exclaimed as twenty clones puffed into existence and fanned out ahead of them.

The pair continued to jump through the trees, always heading north. "Hey, Hinata-chan. We've been running for a while now. How far do you think we've gotten?" Naruto asked as he planted his feet on a thick limb. "We're about fifteen miles from the village now, actually. Which means we should notice a recent camp or something, since the information said that the enemy was last seen around this area, so keep a sharp eye out, Naruto-kun." Hinata was really starting to take charge of the mission, and Naruto couldn't help but feel a small amount of pride as he followed her instructions.

Naruto had mentally instructed the clones to dispel themselves should they find any tracks or other clues about their targets, so that the rest of them would get the memories. This tactic finally paid off when a memory of a burned out fire-pit flew into his mind. He stopped cold, and tried to take in his surroundings to see which direction the clone had vanished from. He zeroed in on the location in seconds, as Hinata back-tracked towards him. "Hinata-chan. About half a mile in that direction. Can you see anything?" Naruto asked as he pointed off straight ahead, a little to the west. Hinata paused and focused her vision, and a moment later, her eyes widened. "Yes. I can see the fire-pit, and some trash laying around. It's not much, but we should hurry, Naruto-kun."

A few minutes later, they arrived at the abandoned campsite. "They haven't been gone for very long. Look. There are still some embers left in the fire pit." Naruto pointed out as he examined the burned firewood. "Which means they can't have gotten very far. We need to get on their trail soon, Naruto-kun. It'll be dark in a few hours…we should strike before the next sunrise, or else we'd have to chase them for another day, or worse, fight them all." Hinata commented as she searched the perimeter for a trail to follow. "Here! I found it, Naruto-kun. Footprints! It looks like…seven sets. And…they're all big, so they're all most likely adults. They aren't making much of an effort to hide their trail, so they must be in a hurry. We should get moving, Naruto-kun." Hinata suggested as Naruto bent down to take a look at the prints himself. "You got all that from some prints? Man…you're really good at this, Hinata-chan." Naruto was grinning at her as he got up, and Hinata, despite the fact that they were on an urgent mission, blushed… "Um…uh…th-thank you…Naruto-kun." Though she was used to talking to him normally, her old shyness always reared its head every time he complimented her. "I've had some practice…our genin squad mostly did tracking missions…Kiba-kun and Shino-kun were really good at it, and…I helped out." She explained a little timidly.

"Really? I think you would've been the best one on the team. You're a lot smarter than Kiba, that's for sure. Hehe." Naruto replied with a grin. "Naruto-kun! Don't be mean to Kiba-kun." Hinata scolded him lightly, though inside, she was jumping because Naruto complimented her again. "But it's true, Hinata-chan. Anyway, let's go. We're losing daylight." Naruto said, becoming serious once again, as he motioned for Hinata to take the lead. Hinata snapped out of her fluster, and took off again, byakugan activated, as they hurried through the trees following the footprints.

About an hour and a half later… "I see something…or…someone! Whoever it is, they've come into range of my byakugan." Hinata exclaimed as she landed deftly on a sturdy branch. "How many, Hinata-chan?" Naruto asked as he landed in a crouch next to her. "I can see two now, but there might be more of them just outside my range. We'll have to get closer, Naruto-kun." She said, to which Naruto nodded and the two of them promptly took off again. About a mile later, Hinata signaled for the stop again. "There are seven of them. It looks like they've stopped for the night. I can see a tent, and a campfire. Two of them are patrolling a perimeter of a quarter mile radius. The other five are together at the campsite." Hinata listed out as Naruto took mental notes.

Then, he broke out into a grin again. "Hinata-chan is definitely the best genin scout I've ever seen. With some practice, I bet your tracking skills could beat Kakashi-sensei's easily." This caught Hinata off guard, and her familiar blush returned to her cheeks. She was thankful that the sun was setting and hoped that it would've been harder for Naruto to notice the faint tinge in the increasingly orange light. "I-I think we should stop here, Na-Naruto-kun. We need to think of a plan, and we need to eat and rest so that we can regain our strength. And after that, we'll need to prepare our gear so that we can attack." Hinata instructed. Truth be told, she was starting to feel the effects of using her byakugan the entire day, and combined with all the running they had been doing, it wouldn't be a lie to say that she was a little tired.

And this didn't go unnoticed by Naruto. "You need to rest, Hinata-chan. I'll use a couple of clones for patrol, so that you can rest your eyes." For someone who was famous for being dense, Naruto certainly noticed a lot of subtle things. He had already sent off the clones before Hinata even got the chance to try and reassure him that she wasn't tired…which would've been a lie…

"We've got a couple of hours to kill. Let's eat, Hinata-chan!" Naruto was already rubbing his palms together and drooling out the corner of his mouth as they settled down between some trees. The grass was a bit wet, but then again, so was everything in the Land of Water. So, it took about half an hour of trying before they finally got a fire going so that they could heat up some canned foods. Two bites later, Naruto groaned. "Is something wrong, Naruto-kun?" Hinata asked with concern flashing in her eyes.

"I'd actually forgotten how hungry I was." He moaned in a pathetic tone. Hinata blinked…then she burst out in a fit of giggles, and tried her best to maintain her dignity, but it was incredibly hard to do. "What's so funny?" Naruto squinted past the fire at her. "Oh…No-nothing Naruto-kun. I just…I just never thought…never thought that you would…that you would ever…forget about…food!" Hinata managed to reply between giggles. She was now clutching her stomach, and trying not to fall over into the wet grass. Now it was Naruto's turn to blink in a confused way. And then he laughed too. He couldn't help himself. When Hinata-chan was happy, _he _was happy.

And so, dinner passed with soft laughter drifting through the forest, which at some places was more of a swamp than a forest. Still, the two managed to get so far without trouble, but now the easy part was over. And Naruto realized that.

"So…what's the plan, Hinata-chan?" He asked. Hinata activated her byakugan once again to see if their targets were still there. The red glow of the sunset had all but vanished, and darkness settled in quickly, and the ever present mist added an extra layer of shadow to the landscape. But none of this deterred Hinata's byakugan. "They're all still there, Naruto-kun. All seven of them. Two are still patrolling, one is standing outside the tent, and the other four are asleep as far as I can tell. I think they will switch shifts around midnight, because they are only enough people for two shifts." Hinata deduced as Naruto thought about a way to approach them.

There was no way that the two of them could take out seven fully grown ninja of unknown skill level head on…well that wasn't entirely true…four hundred shadow clones could do the trick, but that wasn't the point of this exam. This was all about stealth. Suddenly, his eyes flashed. "Hinata-chan. Do you see the scroll?" He asked urgently. Hinata focused and saw what she was looking for. "Yes Naruto-kun. And we're in luck. It's in a backpack just outside the tent." Hinata's hopes lifted, knowing that they wouldn't have to sneak around four sleeping ninja. "That's great Hinata-chan! Also, can you see _exactly _what the scroll looks like?" Naruto asked which confused Hinata. She obliged anyway, and nodded when she could clearly see every external detail of the scroll. "I see it Naruto-kun, but why is that so important?" She asked, deactivating her eyes and turning to look at Naruto.

"Because I've got a plan, Hinata-chan." He grinned mischievously, and rubbed his palms together as his plan took shape. "Hinata-chan. Did you bring the toxins?" Hinata reached into her bag and pulled out several small bottles with different liquids in them.

-Flashback-

"_When it comes to senbon, preparation is the key to victory. You can have a thousand needles, but if all they can do is just poke the enemy, then the enemy will find a way to stop your attacks very soon. Needles aren't the largest or the most brutal of weapons, but when used properly, you can take out entire squadrons with one needle per enemy. Get what I'm saying?" Hideki asked the two who were sitting on the grass in front of him as he reached into his pack and pulled out a fat belt with lots of tiny pockets in them. "Not really." Naruto replied characteristically._

"This_. Is your key to victory. Poisons and toxins are your best friends. I have several that can cause a multitude of ailments including paralysis, nausea, drowsiness, numbness, and even death. However, since I'm just prepping you guys for a test, I'm not gonna show you my killing toxins." Hideki explained as he dipped a needle in one of the bottles. "Give me your finger, Naruto." He held out his hand._

"_ARE YOU CRAZY!? I'M NOT LETTING YOU STAB ME WITH THAT! THE HELL IS WRONG WITH YOU?! YOU TRYNNA KILL ME?! I KNOW WE PRANKED YOU BUT THIS IS COMPLETELY OVER THE LINE!" Naruto screamed and backed away. "Relax, you dumbass! This is just a numbness toxin. Just give me your finger before I decide to throw this at you and hit you somewhere less pleasant." Hideki threatened evilly, and laughed internally as he watched the blood drain out of Naruto's face. The boy submitted and held his finger out to Hideki, who just gave it a soft prick which drew out a spot of blood. A minute later… "I can't feel my finger!" He yelled out._

"_And that was just with a single pinprick. Imagine what you could do with ten needles, and stronger toxins. Now the next part of this lesson is gonna be a little complicated, so I expect Hinata-chan to keep up with it more than you do." Hideki taunted lightly, and Naruto was actually too busy poking his finger at stuff, trying to get the feeling back into it. He just chuckled and turned to Hinata. "Toxins are as powerful as your imagination. You can mix numbness toxins and paralysis and turn the enemy as stiff as a board and he won't even feel a thing. You can also dilute them to reduce or delay their effectiveness, and alternately use more concentrated doses to get stronger effects. It depends on whether you want an instant kill, or a subtle knockout. You understand, right?" He smiled a pleased smile as Hinata nodded (while Naruto was poking the ground)._

-End flashback-

"Ok Hinata-chan. Here's what we need to do." Naruto said as he laid out the plan for her, and she was indeed impressed by his field tactics. He may be clueless about a lot of things, but missions and battles were his forte. No one could outsmart Konoha's No.1 Most Unpredictable Ninja. By the time they had finished their preparations, an hour had passed and darkness had settled in.

"Alright, here we go. Kagebunshin no jutsu!" Four clones puffed into existence, and without a word, took off in opposite directions, while the third and fourth remained with Naruto and Hinata who headed straight for the camp. Hinata was observing the whole area and nodded to Naruto to show that his clones were in position. They had been given needles coated with a toxin that was three parts concentrated knockout toxin, one highly concentrated dose of numbness, and one part mild paralysis. When the circling patrols came into sight, the clones that were hidden in the trees threw their needles. The senbon found their mark, and the patrolling ninjas didn't feel a thing because of the sudden numbness. A few seconds later, they collapsed. The clones then retrieved their needles, knowing that the two will wake up in a couple of hours, thinking that they were stung by an insect and fell asleep.

The clones then proceeded to vanish, and their memories flooded back to the original Naruto, who was now on a tree at the edge of the campsite clearing, about forty yards from the tent. "The patrolmen are down. Now all we need to do is to get rid of that sentry." Naruto reported though Hinata already knew since she would see the whole area with her byakugan. Naruto was already working on his second step. He cut his thumb with a kunai and quietly summoned Gamatatsu onto the branch that they were hiding on. "Hey there Gamatatsu. Listen up. We're on a mission and I need your help. See that sentry over there? We need him gone, so I want you to hop through the bushes around the campsite, and rustle them up. Throw in a few croaks and random noises if you can. We need him to follow you and out of the way for about thirty seconds. Can you do that?" Naruto asked the little yellow toad. "Sure thing, Naruto. But can I have some chips afterwards." The chubby toad asked. "I'll buy you two bags after we pull this off." Naruto replied.

The little toad nodded and hopped away. "Get ready, Hinata-chan." Naruto instructed as he reached into his bag and pulled out a special scroll. "Yes, Naruto-kun. Gamatatsu-kun is in position and he is hopping through the bushes now. It looks like the guard has noticed the noise…and…oh! He's moving, Naruto-kun!" She whispered. "Alright. Here we go. Last part. Let's go, guys." The clones nodded and use the transformation jutsu to turn into two senbon needles. Naruto handed the needles to Hinata and pointed to the bags. "You're the better shot, Hinata-chan. As close as you can to the bags, and I'll take care of the rest." Hinata nodded and took the needles from him. She was bit nervous, because their success depended on her accuracy. But she was a lot more confident than she used to be, especially since Naruto-kun always believed in her.

And so, she tossed both the clones/needles and they landed with two soft _thwips _just inches from the bags. One of the clones transformed back, and threw the second needle back towards the original hiding place; only it was thrown higher into the air. The clone retrieved the scroll from the bags and looked up towards the needle. With a soft poof, the airborne needle transformed back into Naruto. The clone on the ground hurled the scroll at the second clone, while the original threw an identical looking scroll at the airborne clone as well. The Naruto clone caught both scrolls deftly, and threw the real one back into the trees, and the fake, back towards the clone on the ground, and then dispelled itself in midair. The first clone placed the fake scroll into the bag, and it too vanished, while Naruto caught the incoming original scroll, and dispelled Gamatatsu at the same time.

The whole maneuver took twenty seconds.

"That was perfect, Naruto-kun! Now, let's get out of here!" Hinata urged. Indeed. The simple switcheroo. Only Naruto-kun could come up with something so brilliantly simple and simply brilliant, and actually pull it off. And it worked to _perfection_. They retrieved the scroll, and nobody would even know that they'd even been there. Which meant that they wouldn't have pursuers on the way back.

They didn't waste any time and decided to take full advantage of the lead that they would be able to take before, if ever, the enemy squad discovered them. They had run for more than ten hours before they actually caught up to the enemy. Which meant that even at full speed, they would have to run for about eight hours in a beeline.

"Ah shit…we're too far out to make it back in one run. No choice then. We'll just have to keep running till our bodies give out, and then we can rest." Naruto said as he tried to think of the best way to go about the return trip. He decided against a break after four hours, and instead opted for a five-three split. Hinata agreed, though she was quite nervous about her stamina. Still, she didn't complain. She would do her best not to look weak in front of Naruto-kun.

And so the two ran through the trees, never once looking back, never once stopping to take a break. After five hours of non-stop running, they felt that they had earned an hours rest. Hinata couldn't see the village yet, but was sure that they were heading the right way. Her byakugan showed her some of the slashes she left on the trees, so she knew that they were on the right track. They had some rations and Hinata took half a food pill just to be on the safe side, before they packed up and took off again.

"Last part, Hinata-chan. We're almost there. And look. It's almost dawn. Boy I'll bet the Mizukage will be impressed by how fast we managed to accomplish this _mission._" Naruto said, feeling a little smug. Honestly, he felt he deserved it. Two genin had just outsmarted seven adult ninja…well technically three, since four were asleep…but he didn't care.

Three hours later, they were at the office of the Mizukage, with the scroll in their possession. They Mizukage permitted them to enter, and the two bowed as they stopped at the table. "Back so soon? It hasn't even been twenty four hours since you left. Did you lose them or give up?" Mei asked, as she eyed the two down. "Actually, Mizukage-sama…" Naruto trailed off as he reached into his pack and pulled out the scroll, which he proceeded to place on the desk of a very surprised Mizukage.

To say that she was stunned would've been an understatement. She assigned two jonin and five chunin whom she was sure were competent ninja. She handpicked them herself, for heaven's sake. And yet, here were the two rookie genin in front of her, having stolen a scroll from them, and they didn't even have so much as a scratch on them. She examined the scroll, and sure enough, it was the very same one that she had personally prepared for this test. She stared up at the pair, trying to maintain her composure. It wouldn't do for a kage to be awed by the actions of some genin.

And so she spoke after a breath. "You have done well. I expect a detailed report of your every, and I mean _every _action during the mission before the end of tomorrow. I suspect that you would prefer to take the day to rest. I trust that you will be completely honest in your report as it will be the basis of my evaluation of your performance of this exam along with the reports that I will receive from the "enemy" squad. If I find that you provide false information in your report, you will not like what will follow. Now. Have a pleasant day. You will learn of the second part of your exam when you report to me tomorrow. Dismissed." The Mizukage gestured for them to leave so that she could have a moment to process what she had just learned.

"_Incredible. I wouldn't have expected any of my chunin to even be able to complete this mission as well as those two have…they've proven their skill and intelligence somewhat. I'll know when the reports come in. And I'll know the true depths of their strength in the second test. Naruto and Hinata…what an interesting pair." _Mei mused to herself as she thought about the possible ways that they could've accomplished the feat without so much as a scuff on their clothes.

Meanwhile, Naruto and Hinata were heading back to their apartment in high spirits. Tired, but in high spirits. "We did good, Hinata-chan." Naruto said. "Yes. Yes we did, Naruto-kun. I'm proud of us. But…I am _really _tired." Hinata said, feeling a little embarrassed.

"Hahahaha…I know what you mean, Hinata-chan. Come on…let's go home." He said as he walked ahead of her. She was glad, because that last sentence left her heart all a flutter, and she was sure that she was red as a tomato by now. _"Home…our home…mine and Naruto-kuns…" _And her mind proceeded to wander off into fantasy land as the two made their way to some well-deserved rest and relaxation.

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A/N: I told you senbons are awesome! :D anyway, share and review if you enjoyed. Positive feedback is a great inspiration. Until next time.


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